Professional Development Spotlight: A STEM Playground

Thanks to the Thatcher Faculty Development Fund, this summer I was able to attend the International Society for Technology in Education conference in San Antonio, Texas. The conference was incredible and hosted professionals from all over the world. I started the conference feeling completely overwhelmed, lost in the flow of thousands, and instantly eager to learn. 

The conference kicked off with this incredible video and I found it to be very inspiring. It focused on the ISTE student standards that rolled out this past year. 

We then listened to keynote speaker, Jad Abumrad, the host and creator of the popular public radio program “Radiolab.” He really focused on the art of failing. He got his start by putting himself out there and then realizing that he was not any good. However, he did not ever give up. I really loved the statement "Sound is touch at a distance." What a profound idea to think about! We have been using PodCast already at the lower school, and I am really excited to share some of his ideas with our students. I want them to see that through sound, they can impact so many different people. 

Each day I had the opportunity to explore different STEM playgrounds. WOW! It was so fun to see all of the technology that we currently have in our MakerSpace being recognized on a national platform. Our students are definitely “in the know!” 

I loved getting to learn new ways that classrooms were using connective toys. We have already started implementing many of these strategies in Mrs. Deaton’s kindergarten classroom! Starting this month, we will also be adding STEM stations, MakerMats, and a variety of STEM boxes to each classroom in pre-K through fifth grade.

I came back to Darlington, SO excited to share ideas that I learned from these playgrounds. We are so lucky to have Molly Jordan leading the way in STEM integration in the classroom. She has already been doing so many of these amazing activities and projects in her second grade classroom. 

Our last keynote speaker was Reshma Saujani, the founder and CEO of Girls Who Code. She is incredibly inspiring. Her presentation made me think of all the amazing young ladies we have in our community and the untapped potential that resides in each of them.

I went to over 20 different sessions throughout the week, as well as about 50 different poster sessions. At the end of the week, I felt exhausted and a bit brain dead. However, I brought back hundreds of ideas to share with our teachers and students. 

As I have been meeting individually with teachers to set technology goals for the year, I have been able to share these ideas and how they can implement them into their classroom. In addition, Rebekah Kinney and I were able to use ideas and programs learned from this conference to conduct weekly Coffee EDU (professional development) sessions this summer. 

This conference was an incredible experience. However, it’s impact is far from over. I am still processing so many resources and information that I brought back to Darlington. We will continue to learn from this conference throughout the school year. I am so thankful to be in a community that encourages professional development and growth through opportunities like this!