Before getting back in the classroom with their students, a few of our awesome EEMS teachers have actually been teaching other teachers throughout the summer!
Both Leeanna Conners and Jen Trowbridge were center stage at this year’s ‘Computer Science Summer of Fun’ at Husson University, giving multiple lessons to teachers from around the state during the professional development week. Believe it or not, it’s just their third year attending the CS Summer of Fun together, and when they started they were both newcomers to the computer science world!
“I went in very openly- I knew nothing. I literally knew nothing about this and here I am presenting to you guys,” Mrs. Conners says.
“We were just trying to find different ways to incorporate things that are meaningful and branch it out as much as possible,” Mrs. Trowbridge says. “It’s a great learning opportunity. We got to play with some of the stuff, and we’re like ‘Oh, okay, I know how to use it now.’”
Following their first year at CS Summer of Fun, the pair brought a unit called ‘Balloons Over Broadway’ into the classroom! The lesson had students working together to build and code Lego cars, and then designing and attaching balloons for the cars to carry. First, students decided on a character or art theme for their balloons, before choosing and building a Lego car and designing the balloon. After that, the kids would attach the balloon to the car, code the Lego car for the parade route, and then they were off and running!
At the end of the project, they put on parades through the hallways for both the third and the fifth graders to see. And teaching new things has also given them the opportunity to learn a lot of new things, as well!
“If we’re not failing, we’re not learning- and that’s hard for teachers and adults in general sometimes. Ask the kids to help you, troubleshoot together,” Conners says. “That’s really built my community classroom- I don’t know all the answers. Yeah, I’m an adult, but I don’t know everything. We can figure it out, we can work on it, and that’s been really cool. I think that’s important for teachers to remember- don’t stop learning. The world is changing, kids are changing, and we’ve got to change with them.”
This summer and last, Mrs. Conners and Mrs. Trowbridge showed teachers from all over Maine her “Balloons over Broadway” project at the Computer Science Summer of Fun- inspiring other educators to bring fun tech into their classrooms, as well!
“Really, it's just getting teachers to know that these are out there and that kids can use them,” Mrs. Conners says. “The communication, the talking, the working together- it's changed my classroom. So much so that other teachers walk by and see it and then they want to do it, and that's been really cool to see.”
“The kids absolutely love it,” Mrs. Trowbridge says. “And other teachers will ask about it, you know, ‘What are you doing? How do we work this? Can I borrow your Lego kits?’ And within our team, pretty much everybody will get involved. It’s a learning process for them, as well, but we’re all doing it together and can communicate about that and collaborate.”
One teacher from a different district even created her own “Balloons Over Broadway” project tailored for her younger kids, and joined forces with Mrs. Conners at the ‘Every Teacher is a Leader’ workshop this summer to show even more educators from Maine how to make it their own, too!
This year, for the first time, Mrs. Trowbridge also brought her ‘Unplugged’ lesson to the stage. Inside EEMS, this lesson brings her students through the steps a computer would take to accomplish certain things, while also breaking down the “0’s and 1’s” language of binary code into fun, hands-on activities that increase their knowledge and curiosity of these every-day tools.
Since their first ‘CS Summer of Fun’ years ago- the two of them have become sort of computer science pioneers in the school- inspiring both teachers and students and opening them up to a world that they may not have even known was there.
“The students work well while doing it- they communicate well, they work well as team members.” Trowbridge says. “Just the ideas that flow- the kids who are usually not very involved will take over sometimes. It’s just amazing to see their creativity, their exploration, because a lot of times I don’t direct them a lot. I give them some basics and just kind of let them figure it out. It does bring a lot more excitement into the lessons.”
Mrs. Conners and Mrs. Trowbridge weren’t the only two sharing their wealth of knowledge this summer, either! From our IT department, Katie Hollenback and Holly Libby both gave a great presentation at the CS Summer of Fun showing teachers from around the state some 3D Printing techniques! Check back here later in the year for more information on the cool projects they’ll be bringing to the EEMS classrooms every day!