New School Year, New Ideas

The Collaboratory is back open for business and buzzing with excitement!  Our amazing Collaboratory Cubs have really enjoyed checking out all that our learning studio has to offer!  

We also began our first official project:  Makerspace Magic.  We started our project by reading and discussing one of my favorite books:  What Do You Do With an Idea? by Kobi Yamada.  The students shared some of their experiences with their past ideas and discussed how they have shared them with the world.  The last page in the book ("And then, I realized what you do with an idea...You change the world.") sparked some really interesting conversations about how so many of the technologies that we rely on today started as small ideas that were given time and attention until they transformed into the creations that they are today.

Students were inspired by the book's message and eager to start brainstorming some ideas so that they, too, could experience that magical feeling that comes with growing and developing ideas.   So how did we get those ideas to grow into creations? Using the Engineering Design Process, of course! 

Students reviewed the steps of the Engineering Design Process (Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, Improve) before beginning their challenge:  How might you create an object that represents something that you love?  Students started imagining all types of ideas, and then they created their blueprints for one idea that that they wanted to grow and develop into a creation.  

The students designed some truly creative items!  Check out their awesome work:

     

a metal detector

a magnifying glass

a lizard

an iguana

a purse

a snake

a dog

a gumball machine

a bunny

a clapperboard

a piano

buddy birds

a butterfly

a bow

a camera

beach scenes

Cheez-its

Stitch

an airplane

a soccer trophy

a tutu

a car

turtles

cats

a shark

I'm so excited to see these creative students in action throughout the rest of the year!

Happy New Year!

There is something magical about the start of a new school year.  I love the opportunity to reunite with my school family and catch up with everyone, hearing about everyone's summer adventures and their upcoming plans for the school year.  I always greet people when I first see them with a "Happy New Year" and they chuckle, probably partially because we are still in the heat of August and not in January but also because they realize that, for educators, the start of school really is our new year.  Just like January 1st, the start of school is filled with hope.  It's the filled with the ability to reorganize, refresh, and reinvent.  It's filled with opportunities for new beginnings.

Speaking of new beginnings, I am thrilled to share that I will be embarking on a new adventure of my own this year!  In addition to being the TES Collaboratory teacher, I will also be the TES Gifted and Talented teacher!  I am so excited to dive into PERC (Program for Enrichment, Reasoning, and Creativity) this year!

Of course, I was also excited to get the Collaboratory up and running for the start of the 2019-2020 school year!  Take a peek at how it looks so far!

Good luck to all of the educators and students out there getting ready for their first day of school!  I wish you all the happiest new year!

The Collaboratory Cubs Close Out the 2018-2019 School Year

The end of the school year is always a whirlwind of finishing up projects, preparing for the summer, and reminiscing about all of the fun memories from the school year.  Take a peek at how our Collaboratory Cubs closed out another awesome school year!

Our Morning Pre-K class enjoyed their first mini-makerspace day by designing the first letter of their names!  The students loved using the pool noodle pieces for their creations!

Our Afternoon Pre-K class worked through their very first Engineering is Elementary unit called "Designing Trash Collectors".  Our youngest students transformed into environmental engineers who researched pollution and worked to save our favorite story character:  Danny the Duck!  The students worked through every step of the Engineering Design Process by testing trash collector materials, imagining ideas for their own trash collectors, and creating trash collectors based off of their own blueprinted designs.  Thanks to their hard work, they were able to save Danny the Duck!  These kiddos are definitely ready for our Kindergarten units next year!

Our kindergarten engineers finished designing and creating their solar ovens using the materials that the students decided were the best thermal insulators.  They even got to test their solar ovens on a sunny day by making s'mores in their ovens to deliver to their teachers!

Our first grade engineers became magnet experts by doing all types of experiments to test the properties of magnets!  Then, they used what they learned to design and create their own maglev train tracks!

Our second grade environmental engineers tested a variety of different materials to see which were the most effective at containing and removing oil from water.  Based off of their findings, the students designed, created, tested, and improved their own oil spill clean-up processes!  I was so impressed with their hard work and determination! 

Our third graders were able to finish up their simple machines unit!  The students rotated through stations where they were able to measure and compare the force exerted with and without the help of their favorite simple machines.  They even had an opportunity to combine simple machines to design their own creations that were able to help make work easier around our school!

Our fourth grade electrical engineers designed and created their own alarm circuits complete with lights and sound!  They even improved their designs along the way!  I was so proud of their perseverance during this unit!

Our Collaboratory Cubs had another AMAZING year, and I am already looking forward to our adventures next year!  Thank you for your continued support throughout this journey!  Have a wonderful summer!