NARRATIVE
Winfield City Schools takes pride in equipping students with STE(A)M skills and knowledge that is necessary to be prepared for next-level learning. These skills are essential when educating the 'whole child'. STEM literacy is taught in a variety of ways at Winfield City Schools. For example, the Alabama state standards for math and science, the inquiry-based learning opportunities, the 21st Century skills and opportunities, and the 1:1 initiative that have been implemented inside the school system.
Teachers at Winfield Elementary School make a conscious effort to take the fear out of failure for students by referring to it as “productive struggle”. Often students learn more from their mistakes than they do from the resulting accomplishments. The Engineering Design Process, which emphasizes reflection and redesign, guides students and allows them to consider many possibilities without apprehension. Our students have become self-directed learners through consistent exposure from the teachers who facilitate their learning. Activities and classes are designed to stretch a student’s learning while scaffolding instructional sequences which create space for failure in a safe and secure environment. As a result, the process is just as important if not more so than the product.
This ability to personalize and self-direct their learning enables students to become owners of their STEM learning experience. Teachers have restructured their roles in order to become facilitators of learning; however, a balance between this restructuring and traditional face-to-face instruction is maintained to ensure an overall successful learning experience.
Strengths: Engagement and Embeddedness are two of our strengths for Standard 14. Winfield City Schools frequently provides opportunities to develop cross-cutting competencies to support workforce readiness. Each school has embedded specific projects, activities, and classes that give opportunities for students to explore different STEM fields and display readiness for the real world.
Opportunities to Improve: Winfield's greatest areas for improvement are Results and Sustainability. While student data is used to create the STEM classes and place students inside of these classes, data is not as frequently used to evaluate the effectiveness of each program.
WMS Robotics teacher shares drone technology with students. He explains how drones are used in the workforce and allows students to brainstorm other ways drones can be used. Students enjoy operating the drone and see things with a bird's eye view!
wonders dash competition.Students in fourth grade apply to the Wonders Robotics Club. They apply and then are interviewed by teachers. Students chosen meet twice a week after school to learn Blockley coding with the Dash robot.
WMS Robotics class created their competition regulation mats. Students then create their scenery for their mat and use Movie Maker to create their video to submit to competition.
They then compete in the Wonder League Dash Competition with other robotics teams across the nation.
Journeys
The Journeys 21st CCLC After-school Program serves many students with a wide variety of activities and interventions to help with academic enrichment, especially math and reading skills. In addition to homework help and academic enrichment, Journeys provides many other socialization skills, technology training, and the Arts. The program serves as a valued service in keeping children safe who may otherwise be latchkey kids without adult supervision or placed in other unsafe situations.
The program sends children home with the majority of homework completed, test preparation, and other work finished which helps with creating a positive relationship between the school day and the home.
STE(A)M lessons or activities are included in each after-school and summer program day. Since family involvement is the basic dynamic of the Journeys Program and the piston that drives students achievement, our goal is to be an avenue that makes family time better. This project taps into the family as a vital resource and incorporates workshops for parents to assist them in the use of programs along with strategies to increase the learning of their children. Homework is redefined to mean not only work done alone but also interactive activities shared with others at home. Homework with link schoolwork to home life. By providing the home with access to the same curriculum that students work on at school as well as the use of 1-1 initiative laptop computers, Virtual Reality, and computer labs, the Journeys Program now not only extends learning into the home but also allows the whole family to become involved in what their child is learning at school, regardless of education or economic status. It affords parents the opportunity not only to see and be informed about what is transpiring at school but also to participate in the educational process.
bee bot success.MOVRobotics/Coding
The earlier we introduce children to coding, the more comfortable they will be when presented with more in-depth learning opportunities in middle and high school. Also, early exposure to coding helps teach children how important it is to understand computers as the valuable tools that they are rather than merely fun playthings. Learning the fundamentals of coding provides students with skills that will serve them well in virtually any career they choose. Plus, there are few things that ignite and excite a room full of learners like a coding class, especially when the coding is used in conjunction with robotics.
Children learn with all of their senses, and robotics aligns more naturally with the active, hands-on development of young students. Studies have shown that a multi-sensory approach activates a larger number of cognitive connections. When working with robotics, students are emotionally and physically engaged, which results in active learning and enhanced long-term experiential recall.
In Grade 5, WMS students continue to use and build on the fundamentals of robotics and coding. With each grade level, there is a development of exposure to coding and robotics. The focus is tow-fold. First, the use of coding and robotics reinforces curriculum standards. Second, students learn skill sets that will enhance learning and prepare them for college and their careers. Children want to learn how to code and the lasting benefits building these skill sets include logical thinking, problem-solving, persistence, collaboration, and communication.
Students arrive at the middle school well versed in coding and ready to program Bee-Bots and Dash and Dots. Those students who have a desire to pursue coding can join the middle school robotics team, which competes in VEX Robotics Competitions. We give credit to this coding and robotic knowledge to the fact that coding begins in our Pre-K classes as they learn with "Code-N-Go Mouse." The progression flows from grade to grade at the elementary level as students learn to code using the Blockly language to program the Code-N-Go Mouse, Bee-Bots, and Dash-N-Dots.
Communication and collaboration are critical skills to prepare young people for the world outside the classroom doors. Robotics challenges offer students opportunities in all forms of socialization, including listening skills, and considering and evaluating alternative perspectives. Robotic challenges offer students exciting opportunities to build and express their imaginations. There is an authenticity of purpose inherent in bringing the seed of an idea to fruition: from the brainstorming phase to the construction of artifacts that have real-world value. The desire to create is nothing new. A combination of hearts, minds, and bodies has always contributed to the betterment of our world. Robotics values ingenuity and the limitless possibilities of creation.
bee bots.MOV
Math Standards
Using the State Math Content Standards, teachers create lessons plans that simultaneously incorporate necessary math skills and STE(A)M concepts.
Science Standards
Teachers use the State Science Content Standards to create meaningful lessons. AMSTI curriculum is a resource used by teachers to engage students in hands-on and discovery learning experiences.