This week’s post is all about connecting how my internship relates to to my classroom. For me, there are a couple of connections used in the lessons I designed for the ASSIST Center and ultimately for my Kenan Project.
One of the curriculum I teach is Scientific Visualization, which contains a unit on data visualization. My internship at the ASSIST Center involved working with a variety of sensors to build a wearable device. And, as you might guess, sensors can be used collect a variety of different kinds of environmental data. In the data visualization unit, my students learn about different kinds of data, creation of design briefs, using the scientific method to test hypotheses, and how to collect, chart and interpret the data related to an experiment. Using the knowledge I acquired about sensors during my time at the ASSIST Center, I can adjust the state-provided lesson on this material making a far more up-to-date and interesting lesson for my students. Instead of categorizing different book titles in the room, measuring the length of each other’s hands, or timing how much distance a ruler drops when released before being stopped between their fingers, my students will be able to use sensors to collect real environmental data to chart and interpret. This will give them a much more meaningful experience in my classroom. And, since the lesson being distributed by both the Kenan Fellows Program and the ASSIST Center in connection with its One Health Challenge, the lesson will be available for other teachers around the state to use as well!
While data interpretation is the core of my lesson plan, it is not the only take-away from my internship that will affect my class. During the internship, we had to design two lessons: one related to One Health (this is the data visualization/sensor activity described above) and one showcasing the engineering design process (for this, I designed a lesson on programming logic basics as my product) along with one demonstration of energy harvesting (this product involved examining battery vs. solar energy and leading into a discussion of thermoelectric generators). I plan on having each of these products will factor into my instruction for various curriculum I will teach this year and in the future as well.
Stay tuned for more information on how these lessons translate to real-world experience in my classes!
This is the essence of forward thinking in education. Instead of being confined in the verbiage of state standards, you have found it within yourself to teach these concepts in ways the state could have never mandated. When curriculum is specific and confined, the best teachers will innovate how to engage their students, preparing them for a future we can not imagine. When this is done well, the standards are only a part of what our kids can learn. You are liberating your students by connecting real-world experience to the concepts you are required to teach. My sense is that you require more of your students because you require more of yourself. That’s what sets teachers like you apart from the industry standard of power point delivery and rote assessment.