Valentine's Day Centerpiece

I was in a classroom last Thursday where second and third grade students were preparing items to send to an assisted living facility.  In place of a traditional Valentine's Day party, they spent their time decorating placements and a giant table centerpiece to create a focal point for the residents of this special dementia-care facility.

With some fruit skewers, "Peeps" and marshmallows, the students quickly got to work building the abstract art piece that would go on top of the cardboard box structure that would be the centerpiece.  The only rules: make it sturdy enough to last through the car ride to the facility and small enough that it will fit in the car!

Without even an objective or lesson plan, the students learned teamwork and some interesting structural learning, about using support pieces, triangle and square shapes, and stability.  Some things I overheard:

-My job is the structural inspector.  You build it bigger and I will check it for sturdiness.
-We can make it taller over here!  Add some wooden sticks and a marshmallow.  I'll hold it.  You add a stick to connect it here!
-Can we eat the marshmallows?  (I heard this one from almost every student!)

Each group would work on the structure for about 10 minutes, and then switch to the next station.  At the end, all 20 students felt satisfaction and awe that they contributed to the final product?

And what was the final product?  A modern-art looking mess of sticks and marshmallow goo.  It was definitely a focal point, though.  I hope it brought happy thoughts to the people at the assisted living home.

Introduction

I spent 16 years as a classroom teacher.  Seven years as a 5th grade teacher, three years supporting Spanish immersion students in grades 3-5 in their English learning, and finally six years as a classroom teacher of exceptionally gifted students in our district's Navigator Program.

All this gave me a lot of great tools in my toolbox for my current job.  I get to support teachers across our district (mainly at the elementary level, but sometimes at middle and high school) in the following areas: innovation, computer science, and hands-on, inquiry based learning.

I'm always amazed when I travel around and see innovative, creative uses of technology, tools, and activities to engage students and maximize learning.  There are so many good things going on!  I'm also amazed when teachers are vulnerable and proactive enough to reach out to me and say, "Hey, can you come and show me a better way to do _____________?"  I love that.  It allows me to pull from my toolbox and approach problems in new and exciting ways.

I have seen so much good come of this.  So many places where teachers, schools, and classrooms are bucking against the old, traditional model to provide students with learning experiences and tools that will take them through the 21st century.

Which is why I created this blog.  To show you some of the amazing things that are going on.  Maybe it will inspire you to try new things in your schools too!