The journey of an art therapist turned education technology expert
Another regular column that I started writing for the Laurence community is What’s Happening in Tech? where we explore tech integration and computer science projects at the school.
Take a look at last month’s article, which focuses on Lectrify sculptures in Kindergarten, the 5th Grade Lego robotics unit, and our Tech Elective class.
Dear Tech-y,
I just read two articles (one and two) about videos on YouTube and YouTube Kids that appear to be for children but are actually teaching children methods for self-harm. I don’t know if this is a hoax or not, but I don’t want my children exposed to these ideas.
Anonymous Parent
Read my answer, which was originally posted to the Laurence website on March 5, 2019.
As a part of the support we provide to the Laurence parents as a school, I started a new blog series called “Dear Tech-y”. Parents can ask questions anonymously and get answers.
In the first Dear Tech-y installment, a parent asked,
“Dear Tech-y,
We hear a lot about how bad screen time is, but in doing so are we overlooking the benefits of coding, internet research, and content creation? (I’m talking about supervised screen time, of course.) What if the next Zuckerberg is being discouraged from developing because we’re restricting learning that involves a screen?
Anonymous Parent”
Read my response on the Laurence School website.
At Laurence, we have one elective class during trimester three for almost all students in grades 3-5 — The STEAM Elective!
Last year, we designed a solar car challenge, where students learned how to design a car from two fantastic designers, Michael DiTullo and Jonathan Ward of ICON 4×4 Cars. Then, over the course of 7 classes, students interviewed another student and designed a solar car based on the brainstorming that took place with their partner. The final class culminated in students showing off their cars and exchanging what they built with their partner.
Read about the exciting afternoon of the STEAM Elective Kickoff, where students drew alongside the designers and saw an ICON car first hand. It was amazing!
I took a hiatus from writing because I accepted a position at Laurence School as their Director of Technology in the summer of 2017.
There was lots of good work to do, which kept me busy. Now that things are settling down, I’m writing more for them and will be sharing some of the great initiatives that we’re working on, including:
Glad to be back! Stay tuned…
Caroline Windell developed a truly amazing curriculum for our students! Several students from my the Design Elective were featured in the video (the arduino projects.) Such amazing work!
Grade 3 students created their own state seals of California using their own imagery at the end of their social studies unit.
Seals were designed in Keynote using clip art, exported as a .jpg, and laser cut out of 1/4″ birch wood.
There is so much I love about this unit. It has happened each year I have been at Hamlin, but as it is exemplary student-centered learning in action – it’s as different every year as the students who make the learning happen.
This year Rachel Davis did an incredible job in documenting the work and reflections of the Grade 1 students and their teachers, enjoy –
Thanks to all the teachers that came together and designed this learning experience!
Source:: Liz Beck – Hamlin Ed Tech Blog
I was lucky enough to be asked to speak on a panel at this year’s ATLIS conference focusing on Makerspaces with the amazing Dr. Ashley Cross, Director of Technology, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Day School, Tatyana Griffin Director of Educational Technology & xLab (MakerSpace) Coordinator, The College Preparatory School, Leigh Northrup Dean of Innovation and Technology, Cannon School, moderated by Sarah Rolle, Director of Technology, Elizabeth Morrow School.
The goal was to discuss how our makerspaces have evolved, how we integrate them programmatically, tips and trips, as well as philosophical questions around project-based learning. Considering we had 45 minutes, we covered a lot of ground!
Check out these cool resources that Sarah compiled from the group as a take-away from our talk.
This unit was about 5 months in the making:
Map of a 8 block radius around Hamlin + Buildings built out of cardboard and paper + QR codes that link to Grade 1 students interviewing stores in the community + Squishy Circuits =