NARRATIVE

We believe that often students learn as much or more from their mistakes as they do from the resulting accomplishments. Teachers at W.E.S. make a conscious effort to take the fear out of failure. We use the acronym FAIL, First Attempt In Learning to take away the stigma and negative connotation of failing. By using the Engineering Design Process, we emphasize reflection, redesign, and guide and encourage students to consider many possibilities without apprehension. By researching through literature and informational text as well as digital sources, students are exposed to many inventors, scientists, and engineers who did not succeed in their first attempts. Our students become self-directed learners through constant exposure from teachers who facilitate and guide them. Students use computer-assisted programs and apps such as Seesaw, Flipgrid, Wonder, and Code.org as well as hands-on activities through Project-Based Learning. Activities are designed to stretch a student's learning while scaffolding instructional sequences which create space for failure in a safe and secure environment. Emphasis is placed on the process as much as the final product.

The ability to personalize and self-direct their learning enables students to become owners of their own STEM learning experiences. Teachers serve as facilitators of learning while providing a balance with traditional face-to-face instruction in order to ensure an overall successful learning experience. By using the Engineering Design Process, project-based learning, self-reflection, and self-directed learning students are encouraged to take ownership. By working in collaborative groups with their peers and students of other age groups we exhibit our strengths.

Strengths: Winfield City School System displays strength in the high expectations placed on student learning. Self-directed learning is shown through Winfield's inquiry-based learning activities, collaborative student work, cross-curricular units, and Engineering Design Process activities/projects.

Opportunities to Improve: Winfield City School System is always on the search to learn and grow our student learning process. Therefore, Winfield always has the opportunity to improve in this standard. Winfield City School System can work on collecting data in order to provide more opportunities for teacher support, analyze data to display the growth of student STEM learning over time, and we feel as if we can always do more to work on complete STEM embeddedness into our culture.