As an elementary Visual Art teacher (grades K-4) in the Shaker Heights City Schools, I am passionate about integrating technology as a tool for teaching and learning in my classroom and with my colleagues. I am currently a part of my district’s i3 (Innovation, Inquiry, and Imagination) Committee and have been working with a team of teachers at the building level to develop STEAM learning engagements and cross-curricular design challenges as a part of the district’s “i3 Initiative”. Developing STEAM learning engagements and instruction is an identified area of need throughout the district at the elementary level. It has been decided that a future building Makerspace will utilize an in-class flip model, and rely on blended learning resources such as video modeling and curated web content through a shared Google site and Google Classroom (LMS). Learning engagements will follow a rotational model (using the flipped content) in which students will be able to self-pace through STEAM activities at stations in the Makerspace, as classroom teachers take on a facilitation role.
The objective of this project is to create a Google Classroom and companion Google Site for third grade learning engagements that will serve as a template or exemplar for teachers to develop their own digtial learning content in the future. Student content will guide elementary students to apply the five-phase Design Thinking Process through blended learning in the classroom (or school Makerspace). Using transdisciplinary, project-based learning to increase learner engagement, critical thinking, and creativity, students will progress through an in-class flip instructional model, using curated content and resources. The Google Classroom that I plan to develop will have modules that take students through each phase of the Design Cycle. My goal for the practicum is to focus on fully developing the identified lessons and learning engagements for the third grade Primary Year Programme (PYP) unit planners. This will involve working with grade level teachers, our Library-Media specialist, and IB Curriculum Coordinator to integrate the lessons into the grade level units of inquiry.
Additionally, I would like to develop some video instruction to guide students and teachers in using Google Classroom and the Google Site in these design challenges. Design Thinking is defined as a human-centered, creative approach to problem-solving. While the stages of Design Thinking can vary between models, their application involves segments of understanding and creating. The model of design thinking used in our curriculum comes from Stanford’s D.school (Institute of Design) involving 5 phases: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. The teacher acts as the facilitator throughout each learning engagement and poses a prompt or problem for students to solve; students reflect and collaborate. Design thinking has been shown to encourage students’ critical thinking, creativity, confidence, and collaboration.