STEM Grant, Bootcamp, Encouragement, and Mistakes - Wk 35

CN Elementary Teaching Team:

Here are a few highlights from this week:

Week 35 (May 13 – May 17, 2019)

Thursday Giggles:                How does a cucumber become a pickle?
It goes through a jarring experience.

If you ever try out any ideas I suggest in my blog, please let me know! I would love to showcase your awesome discoveries here.
Others would love to learn from your experiences. And, you’ll inspire others to try something new.
Email me here: melissaculver@cusd.com. Check out my website: www.melissaculver.com.

Congratulations!!! Copper Hills just received a $2,000 STEM grant. They will receive filament and audio technology to support 3D printer projects on their site. That is awesome. Way to go, Team! 

Temporary supports were not removed in this print yet. Temporary supports are necessary to substantiate the interior places of a build. Yet, they are designed to be temporary.

PD Dates to save on your calendar:

     This year, Bootcamp will fall the week after school gets out. One reason behind this is that Summer School teachers cannot go each year due to the old calendar. So, Summer School teachers can now go to Bootcamp. To sign up for these sessions, head to THIS LINK.

Image credits here.

Encouragement. Truly worth watching. Take a minute. This will make you smile. Turn the volume up. You’ll be glad you did. #Encouragement #TeacherAppreciationDay VIDEO LINK HERE.

Mistakes. Is your environment safe enough to make mistakes? I hope the people around you welcome mistakes that move you all forward. Nothing is more defeating than someone making fun of your mistakes where you feel defeated and discouraged. I hope you share the hiccups/mistakes/discoveries you encounter with people. And I hope those same people share their mistakes right back.

Here’s a quick article that highlights how failure resulted in innovation. LINK HERE.

Image credit here.

My husband shared a quote with me the other day. He said, “We never truly fail. We either succeed or we learn.” If you know who deserves the credit for that quote, please let me know. I want to give credit where credit is due.

As a child, I learned what not to do by watching my older brother. By standing back and watching him, I learned a lot about life. We all need people around us who share their discoveries. This insight makes the team stronger and better.

I failed Algebra the first time. I took voluntary summer school when I transitioned from one school district to another back in grade 7. I had never seen letters in math before in my life (this shows you how education has changed over the years). When my math teacher introduced me to parenthesis and variables, I was lost. I had no prior knowledge about these things living in math before and I was lost. The next term when I took the class during the traditional school year, I soared through the class because I had prior knowledge. Failure didn’t crush me, it pushed me forward.

As I navigate the world of 3D printing, I am failing forward one print at a time. Each of these hiccups make me a better teacher. I can share my “perceived failures” with others so they can save time by not making those same mistakes again. And, my next lesson on 3D print design and execution will have detailed examples that clarify why certain things must be in place for a print to work successfully. No, that’s not a palm tree, but we can call it that.

We all need safe environments where we can make mistakes. This is essential to our survival as educators. Let’s share our hiccups/mistakes/discoveries with each other. Let’s all help our neighbors cross the finish line in any way we can. Celebrate these learning discoveries together. #WeAllMakeMistakes

Let’s all stay curious,
Melissa Culver