Teacher Capacity and Development PD

August 2020 - Present
Students in K-6 began receiving regular STEM education for 45-60 minutes per week.  This class is a combination of STEM education and Computer Science education, with many projects using components of both.  These classes are still part of the regular elementary schedule.  All students in the district are 1:1 devices, with K-2 on iPads and 3-6 on Chromebooks.

April 2020
The STEM teacher applied for and won Scale-Up Awards for CS Fundamentals (Code.org) and VEX IQ Robotics.  These programs both have coding based units.

July 2020
The STEM teacher attended trainings for VEX and CS Fundamentals, and began planning lessons and units to incorporate into class.

April 2021
The STEM teacher applied for and won Scale-Up Awards for Storytime STEM +CS, BBC Micro-Bits with Hummingbird Basic and training (x2), and the Fierce and Fearless STEAM Teacher program.  The First Grade teacher was also awarded Storytime STEM +CS (x2). 

July 2021
The STEM/CS teacher attended trainings for Storytime STEM, Micro:Bits, and FFST. She began planning lessons and units to incorporate them into class, and began unpacking NGSS and CSTA standards for lesson/unit alignment. 

August 2021
STEM/CS teacher and First Grade teacher talked about when/how to introduce BeeBot technology to students, and how to transfer learning from the STEM room to the First Grade room.

December 2021
The STEM teacher and Principal Oehlertz traveled to Pocahontas for a day of training regarding the new state requirements for computer science. We participated in the SCRIPT training at Priarie Lakes AEA which gave us a jumpstart in beginning to develop our computer science district plan and grade implementation.

April 2022
The STEM teacher applied for and won Scale-Up Awards for Storytime STEM +CS, Finch Robotics, Tiny Techies, and PCS Drone Adventures.  The Sixth Grade teacher was also awarded the PCS Drone Adventures, and the program will be implemented in the Spring 2023 in both grades. 

July 2022
The STEM teacher attended trainings for Storytime STEM +CS, Finch Robotics, Tiny Techies, and PCS Drone Adventures, and began planning lessons and units to incorporate them into class. The STEM/CS teacher worked with the Sixth Grade teacher to plan when to teach the drone curriculum, and reviewed the coding based features of the program. 

September 2022
Vocabulary words related to computer science are being used in classrooms other than STEM (algorithm, sequence).

November 2022
The Computer Science is Elementary Mentor program was offered to schools in Iowa.  The CS Teacher requested a mentor and was assigned to Susan Oehlertz.  A meeting was held between the teacher and mentor to look at what is happening and how it can be organized to suit the needs of students at L-M.  First Grade Teacher Hannah Zylstra agreed to be part of the CS Leadership team and work together to implement computer science skills in the classroom to promote skills learned in STEM/CS class.

December 2022
A grant was won that provided VEX Go and Hummingbird Deluxe kits for students in grades 2-6.  The STEM/CS teacher participated in online trainings and began to organize units for students to use these programs beginning in January.

January 2023
STEM/CS teacher met with mentor to touch base on progress.  Looked into how ideas have changed since prior meeting, and explored grant opportunities for the school. 

Teacher met with First Grade teacher to talk about implementing CS into EL curriculum for enhancement of literacy skills.

February 2023
Applied for a STEM Scale-Up award and began pursuing other grant opportunities.

Looked into PD opportunities for the CS and First Grade teachers.  Also had a discussion with the TLC leader regarding having time to present school wide PD on computer science.  

March 2023
STEM/CS teacher met with mentor to finalize and submit plan to state.  

Began compiling a list of needs to implement computer science into First Grade in the 23-24 school year.  Researching grants and funding for these items.