School is dismissed one hour early every Wednesday, during the entire school year, in order for teachers to collaborate and participate in professional development. During this time, at least three times per year, the SDES STEM teacher leads PD over STEM best practices. Moreover, the STEM teacher has scheduled time to help homeroom teachers with ideas on how to integrate STEM and STEM best practices into their lessons. Furthermore, a daily common prep time at each grade level allows these groups of teachers to schedule more personalized training and meetings. 

We have some of the most creative and innovative teachers at SDES. Our teachers give our students real-world, problem based learning experiences throughout the year. Using their STEM best practices training and knowledge, they are able to deliver exceptional and meaningful lessons. From Kindergarten learning about life cycles and hatching actual live chicks, to sixth grade taking a career survey to determine salary and simulate "adulting"; students are preparing for their futures. At SDES, you could see 2nd graders learning about dinosaurs, becoming paleontologists, analyzing fossils, and collecting data. You might even notice 4th graders learning about energy transfers via professionals at the local energy company. They complete experiments with circuits, wiring bulbs, motors, and fans. Even on the hottest day of the school year, teachers can't pass up the chance to try and melt something like crayons after the daily weather report at the calendar station. 

Teachers at our school are very accustomed to small group work. As part of our HRS training, we know the importance of such interactions. In the past, many teachers have used weekly assigned "jobs" or used popsicle sticks to establish group leaders and other group roles. At the end of the 22-23 school year, the STEM teacher worked with the STEM Committee and administration to give the option to streamline these group roles. Using the acronym TEAMS, job roles were defined. Furthermore, for ease of use, lanyards were created by each homeroom teacher to quickly assign jobs during group work. While this is optional because many teachers already had set group roles that worked well in their rooms, the TEAMS lanyards/jobs are being used more and more frequently. The students feel a sense of integrity in each role, and role expectations are well defined. From telling kindergarteners, "Only the Materials Manager can go get the supplies," to explaining to 6th graders that sometimes a leader has to take a vote and go with "majority rules" over their own opinion, our students are learning what it means to have a role within a group. 

SDES has been 1:1 since 2013. For the first eight years of being 1:1 there was a designated Technology Integration Specialist housed within the school. That same person is now the STEM teacher. During those eight years, Mrs. Bolton trained staff extensively over how to implement technology in the classroom. At that time, the entire school was 1:1 with iPads. Currently, we are K-3rd iPads and 4th-6th Chromebooks. Students are very accustomed to using the iPad camera to take photos/videos/slo-mo for data collection. Older students regularly use their Chromebook for research and reference. Students create multimedia projects using a wide variety of digital tools; including: Pic Collage, iMovie, Clips, Book Creator, Pow Toons, Google Slides, Keynote, etc. We also employ a variety of online educational materials and assessments. All of our adopted curriculum have online components, and we also have subscriptions to programs such as Study Island, IXL, Generation Genius, etc. Free tools are used for further integrations and activities including Kahoot, Gim Kit, Quizizz, Blooket, Scratch, Tykercad, etc. 

However, our technology expands (and continues to expand) beyond our 1:1 devices. Thanks to past and recent grants, we have technologies such as VEX IQ kits, Sphero RVRs, Little Bits, Makey Makeys, Snap Circuit Electronics, projectors, Apple TVs, 3D printers, Cricuts, etc. We know that students need experience using various types of technology, and we are committed to giving them such experiences.