Dynamic December

December was a tremendous month full of incredible opportunities and exciting events.


My dynamic December actually started at the end of November.  I, along with several colleagues, had the opportunity to attend the annual Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching (CAST), a 3-day conference filled with workshops ranging from Augmented Reality apps, 3-D printing in education, and Wearable engineering to circuits, magnetism, Girl Power in STEM fields.  My colleague Andrea Jaramillo (from Forman Elementary) and I were also selected to present a session titled: Little Engineers that Can!

While this opportunity actually happened in November, we were able to use what we learned to plan activities for our biggest December event:  Hour of Code.  What started as a budding idea blossomed into a full-blown, whole-school, parent and community involvement initiative that spanned a full week and attracted more than a hundred visitors!  Among the many hands-on activities sprinkled throughout the week was an unplugged activity using legoss that helped the students understand the basic principles of coding.  This was a direct result of our CAST experience.  Students were so engaged, I did not hear of a single discipline issue during the culminating event.  I'm so thankful for a campus full of teachers who were willing to travel on the adventure together and with great spirit!  And with the full-throttle support of our principal, I can't help but feel a sense that our progress as a campus is UNSTOPPABLE!

I can't wait to see what this new semester will bring and what exciting new learning will grow and stretch us all - students, parents, and staff!