Extraordinary Designers
Over the past week, our TES designers have been working hard to add some personal touches to our Collaboratory. Each class was challenged to create a design to represent a special place in Tabernacle. Then, I told the students that they would use that design to decorate one of the ceiling tiles in our learning studio. I will never forget the looks on the students' faces when I told them they were going to get to draw on the ceiling! They put their hearts and souls into the tiles, and I am so excited to share the finished products with you! One thing that I didn't tell the students during the project was that they were using the steps of the Engineering Design Process, and they didn't even realize it!
This week, the students will be formally introduced to the steps of the Engineering Design Process, which are Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, and Improve. I explained to the students that, believe it or not, they had already used these steps during the ceiling tile project, and now they were going to explore each step on a deeper level by tackling some challenges presented in the Design Studio Extraordinaires program. In this program, students learn about a variety of characters and then select a task card which challenges them to design and create something that will help that character in some way. I love how the Extraordinaires program helps students become comfortable with the steps of the Engineering Design Process while also focusing on empathy.
Kindergarteners were the first TES designers to try our the Extraordinaires program! Check out the challenge that each class tackled:
Mrs. Valleau's class had to create somewhere to sit for the Giant character.
Mrs. Padilla's class had to create a plaything for the Pirate character.
Mrs. Colella's class had to create a flying vehicle for the Giant character.
Mrs. Gerst and Ms. Connelly's class had to create a remote control for the Astronaut character.
I am really looking forward to the rest of the week!
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