Building Engineers - Center for Inspired Teaching

June 13, 2016

(Photo credit: David Yarmchuk/Center for Inspired Teaching)

This piece was written by David Yarmchuk, Inspired Teaching’s Senior Manager of Science Education. David leads Inspired Teaching’s SCALE: Science Curriculum Advancement through Literacy Enhancement program.

How early do young engineers begin honing their design skills? I recently visited SCALE Teacher Leader Dionne Hammiel’s classroom, where students begin this work as young as 5-years-old. Ms. Hammiel’s kindergarten classroom at Burroughs Elementary School in northeast DC recently began an extended engineering project that started with simple design and construction experiments and will culminate in students designing and building “plant packages” that will allow plants to grow and survive while being shipped long-distance. Along the way, students will learn the steps of the engineering design process, as well as important science content such as what differentiates living and non-living things and what plants and animals need to survive.

A young engineer tests the stability of her notecard tower.

“Let’s make it 50 inches!” one excited little girl exclaimed as she worked with her team to build a tower out of notecards and tape. It was especially heartwarming to see the level of enthusiasm for engineering among the students in this classroom, all of whom come from groups that are currently underrepresented in the field. Experiences like this class are expected to change those statistics in the future.

Even before she started teaching this unit, Ms. Hammiel had a leg up on this project, since she had already written several of the plant packaging lessons as a part of her work on the DC Public Schools’ (DCPS) Cornerstones initiative. All DCPS kindergarten teachers across the district are expected to teach this sequence of lessons, which Hammiel co-wrote with Sherri Jones, another DCPS teacher who works with 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds at Capitol Hill Montessori School. The lessons fit into a larger Engineering is Elementary curriculum module that DCPS has provided for elementary school classrooms in partnership with the Museum of Science in Boston.

One group of students planned to use pillars, or “cylinders” as they described them, to support their tower. Vocabulary like this is infused into the unit, helping students to develop strong literacy skills while they engage in STEM inquiry.

Ms. Hammiel and Ms. Jones are both SCALE Teacher Leaders who are a part of Center for Inspired Teaching’s 2015-16 SCALE cohort. In addition to teaching their regular classes and writing Cornerstone lessons for use by their peers, Ms. Hammiel, Ms. Jones, and the other SCALE Teacher Leaders have also led professional development for over 400 DCPS teachers to prepare these educators to teach Cornerstones themselves. During these training sessions, the SCALE Teacher Leaders had their teacher colleagues first participate in the lessons as learners, building their comfort with both the science content and the engineering process. Through this train-the-trainers model, SCALE is transforming the way science is taught for thousands of students across the District.

As Ms. Hammiel puts it, “I never would have done this unit if it weren’t for SCALE. Inspired Teaching has changed the way I think about and teach science in my classroom.”

For the past two years, SCALE has been run in collaboration with DC Public Schools. In 2016-17, SCALE will expand to charter schools in DC with the support of a grant from the Toyota USA Foundation.

Micaiah Anderson

Community Outreach Specialist

As a Community Outreach Specialist, Micaiah is responsible for program promotion and outreach support for Inspired Teaching events and workshops. Micaiah has a passion for collaborating with community members to build-power and connect. She is an educator with a heart for youth and has experience supporting students fight injustices within their schools and communities. She has a BA in Political Science from, the real HU, Hampton University & anticipates graduating in May 2024 with a Masters of Arts degree in Educational Policy Transformation from Georgetown University.

AUTONOMY

"I want to have a say in what happens to me."

Autonomy is the need for independence; the ability to make choices, to create, to explore, and to express oneself freely; to have sufficient space, to move around, and to feel unrestricted with opportunities to exercise free will.

Brady Maiden

Outreach Coordinator

As the Outreach Coordinator, Brady helps maintain Inspired Teaching’s social media presence and supports the organization’s mission to connect with DC community leaders, educators, and parents. Brady has her Master’s in Public Policy from George Mason University and her BS in Political Science from Northern Arizona University. She is passionate about community, equity, and coalition building recognizing that learning and growing with the community at large is how we continue to be impactful.

What brings you joy in life?

I find joy in spending time with my friends and family and meeting new people. I like going to concerts and festivals, and finding new books to read.

The Learner’s Cycle, Wonder-Experiment-Learn, and the Teacher’s Cycle, Observe-Plan-Instigate, comprise Inspired Teaching’s approach to engaging students in inquiry-based learning.

When they are engaged in the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, students are immersed in learning. They take the lead in designing authentic learning experiences around their own interests and their school’s standards of learning. Each discovery leads to a new question which in turn leads to more wondering and more learning. In the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, Learn is not a destination or an endpoint; it is a deeper understanding, leading to a deeper wondering and new possibilities that create new entry points to further exploration. The cycle continues because what students have learned generates more wonderings that require more experiments that foster more learning – and on and on.

The Observe-Plan-Instigate Cycle is the work of an Inspired Teacher. While a student is expected to follow the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, the teacher joins them on the learning journey while following their own cycle of Observe-Plan-Instigate. This cycle ultimately serves to ensure an inquiry-based atmosphere is at play in the classroom.

Jaqueta Abbey

Teaching and Learning Specialist

Jaqueta is the Teaching and Learning Specialist for Inspired Teaching. In addition to her current role with Inspired Teaching, Jaqueta is a first-grade teaching assistant. Her background features a variety of traditional and non-traditional experiences in the field of education, including working as an adjunct professor, teaching summer reading programs to children and adults, and tutoring children in the foster care system. Jaqueta earned a B.A. in Communication Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an M.A. in Interactive Media from Elon University.

What brings you joy in life?

Creative self-expression! In addition to my passion for storytelling, I love dancing of all kinds. I've studied belly dance, bachata, and Brazilian Zouk among other styles. I also enjoy glass fusing, crocheting, photography, and cross stitching. These art forms allow me to express myself and build connections with other people at the same time. I think life would be a lot less vibrant without artists and storytellers!

Michelle Welk

Communication & Marketing Specialist

As Communications and Marketing Specialist, Michelle is responsible for finding and creating new ways to highlight Inspired Teaching and promote its programs in order to expand and deepen the organization's impact. Michelle has worked in communications in an array of settings, from creative agencies to state politics to national nonprofits. She has a BA in Journalism from Temple University in Philadelphia and is passionate about education, access, and equity.

What brings you joy in life?

My son, the beach, making a persuasive argument and good food!

Max Peterson

Real World History Assistant Teacher

Max received his Bachelor’s degree in History and African American Studies from Boston University in May 2016. He has worked in museum curation at the Museum of the White Mountains in New Hampshire and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Max has worked with young people of varying ages from young children to young adults transitioning to college.

Feedback and Accountability

We grow through feedback and an understanding that the quality of our work is a reflection of what we are learning, but the shift to remote learning this spring disrupted a lot of the tools teachers were used to using to evaluate student growth. How might we do things differently this fall? Participants in this workshop will explore ways to bring meaningful assessment into the virtual and/or socially-distanced classroom and approaches to student feedback that strengthen motivation, and build relationships and achievement.