Embedded Files
Cold Spring instruction is where the culture and curriculum come together in ways that make STEM education come alive for our students. This is where we get to inspire students to have a passion for STEM and the environment. Our instructional approach is anchored in problem-based learning and inquiry-based instruction. Our staff is provided regular professional development on STEM best practices for the benefit of instruction. Our staff receives regular Ford NGL PBL Training from our certified Ford NGL Trainer and computer science teacher, Genevieve McLeish-Petty. In this section, you will get the chance to see some of the professional development McLeish-Petty led with our staff and some of the great student work samples that students produced during our PBL Week. This was a week-long initiative where every student in the school was engaged in a PBL project.
Throughout our instruction, we want to amplify student voices and ensure students are doing the heavy cognitive lifting. This is done in a number of ways in our instruction, but primarily through the use of student roles in group work and lots of collaboration. Our students work in groups so frequently that we recently purchased all new student tables so that every student sits at a table with a group of students. This investment in student furniture allows for easy access to collaboration and group work. Teachers utilize defined student roles to help promote leadership skills, collaboration skills, and interpersonal conflict resolution skills. All of this is to help promote student and group accountability and instill the critical skill of self-reflection and self-advocacy for students.
Technology is critical to our instructional success at Cold Spring. Students can access amazing resources like a class set of zSpace computers, multiple 3D & Resin printers, Dash and Dot robots, Cubelets, OzoBots, Laser Cutter, VEX Go Kits, Minecraft Education, and much more. These are just some of the 27 technology resources and devices we use in instruction and that list is constantly growing. Students learn how to utilize these resources through our computer science class so that they can use them outside of computer science easily and effectively. Our computer science teacher then works to train, develop, and collaborate with our teachers on how they could use the technology resources available in their classroom and instruction. This allows for greater access and use of these devices, so they do not just live within the media center or computer science class.
All of this and much more, leads to authentic STEM integration within our curriculum and instruction. In this section, you will have the opportunity to review several unit and lesson plans with a variety of interdisciplinary content. You will see student products and pictures of students engaging in technology, inquiry-based learning, and collaboration that fuels STEM integration at Cold Spring School.
3.1 STEM Instructional Approach Training
3.1 STEM Instructional Approach Training
In 3.1, you will find evidence of the problem-based learning, inquiry-based learning, and STEM integration training that our staff engages with each year. You will see examples from our Ford NGL Training, PLTW Teacher Launch Training, and training completed by staff at CSPD Week. You will see rosters of our staff and their training participation. Finally, you will see agendas and information from a variety of STEM professional development that our staff has engaged with.
3.2 STEM Instructional Approach Implementation
3.2 STEM Instructional Approach Implementation
In 3.2, you will find examples of our curriculum maps and samples of our unit and lesson plans that show how 100% of our teachers use a STEM instructional approach in the context of solving real-world problems and challenges. You will also review a document that outlines the timeline of problem-based learning throughout the year and the frequency of such units. Finally, you will review student products from these units.
3.3 Student Instructional Work Groups
3.3 Student Instructional Work Groups
In 3.3, you will find examples from our PBL Week that was implemented school-wide with examples from both elementary and middle school projects. You will see evidence of student roles and responsibilities that were used in group work and self-reflection rubrics for group accountability. You will find a full document of our staff roster with the implementation of STEM approaches and the frequency of work throughout the school. Finally, you will find results from a teacher survey about student group work in their classrooms, samples of rubrics used by teachers, and examples of student voice in group work roles.
3.4 Technology in Instruction
3.4 Technology in Instruction
In 3.4, you will find a robust list of over 25 technology devices used by students and staff at Cold Spring. You will learn about how we utilize Clever for our online digital platforms. Finally, you will see multiple examples of student products using the technology available at Cold Spring.
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