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Mass STEM Hub Learning Teams

Fall Conference, October 18, 2021

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Launch Community Leads

Lindsey Ayers

  • Westfield
  • Launch Lead Teacher
  • Community Lead
  • Teaching for 10 years
  • 2nd grade Launch (3rd year)

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Wendy Marino

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  • Milford
  • Launch MT
  • Summit Facilitator
  • Community Lead
  • Teach grades 3-5
  • Teaching for 16 yrs
  • 5th year teaching Launch

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You can reach me at:

  • l.ayers@schoolsofwestfield.org
  • 413.563.0090
  • @LindseyyAyers

You can reach me at:

  • wmarino@milfordma.com
  • 774.573.4993
  • @woodlandmarino

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Who are Community Leads?

  • Experienced PLTW educators
  • Active participants in the PLTW community
    • Submit student work for Student Industry Connects
    • Host Virtual Classroom Visits from STEM Professionals
    • Attend and present at Fall Conference, Spring PD Day
    • Participate in student showcase events
  • Selected by Mass STEM Hub to facilitate Learning Teams
    • Connect educators to each other and to resources

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PLTW, WPI, and Mass STEM Hub are working in partnership to support schools in Massachusetts

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Providing premier K-12 curriculum in Computer Science, Engineering, & Biomedical

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Expanding the existing affiliate relationship to provide additional training options for teachers

Creating an ecosystem of enrichment activities and supports around PLTW to maximize the impact for students and teachers

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Mass STEM Hub programming

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IMPLEMENTATION SUPPORT��Rostering

Ordering

2 MA-based Directors of School Engagement

INDUSTRY CONNECTION��Student Industry Connects

Virtual Classroom Visits

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EDUCATOR NETWORK

�Learning Teams

Fall Conference

Spring PD Day

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING��Summer refreshers

Fall Conference

Spring PD Day

Coaching���

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What are Learning Teams?

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A network of PLTW educators

Share resources and best practices

Meet periodically (virtually and in-person)

Problem-solve, plan, and celebrate student successes together!

Pathway or Course-specific groups

Launch: all grades and modules

Gateway: Automation & Robotics, Computer Science, Design & Modeling

High School: Biomedical, Computer Science, Engineering

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Learning Team Kick-Off Meeting

Meeting Description

Join us for our first meeting of year. We will have the opportunity get to know each other and share what's been working well this year and brainstorm solutions to any challenges.

Attending monthly meetings count towards earning 10 PDPs through WPI!

Wednesday, November 10, 2021 3:30 PM Virtual (Zoom)

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Learning Team Events

Fall Conference (10/18)

STEM Week (10/18-10/22)

Nov Learning Team mtg.

Dec Learning Team social

Jan/Feb Learning Team mtg.

Spring PD Day (March)

April Learning Team mtg.

May/June Learning Team mtg.

Important Dates

Ongoing supports: monthly newsletters, coaching referrals, individual communication

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Student Collaboration

  • Collaboration is a key component of the work of all STEM professionals.
  • Increased student collaboration = Increased number of perspectives represented.
  • Students need to learn how to work in an increasingly diverse society.
  • Effective collaboration is a learned skill, and we as educators play an instrumental role in teaching students how to work with others to improve their work.
  • Collaboration is something we’re all working on.
  • There are multiple ways to effectively collaborate.

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Collaboration brings joy to our work!

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Active Listening Activity

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Approximate Time Needed:

Setup - 5 minutes

Game - 14 minutes

Follow-up Discussion - 15 minutes 

  1. Grab a partner and a piece of paper. Partners sit facing opposite directions.
  2. Partner 1: grab a picture. Do not show partner
  3. Partner 2: Ask questions about the picture for 5 minutes
  4. Partner 1: Answers all questions and describes the picture
  5. Partner 2: Draw the picture for 5 minutes
  6. Compare the drawing with their original and discuss what did and didn’t work.

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GOAL: Draw a picture as described by your partner as accurately as possible.

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Discussion

  1. What was challenging about communicating with each other?
  2. What are some active listening strategies you could use to overcome these challenges?
  3. How can these strategies be used when collaborating with others on a project?
  4. When would you use this activity with students?

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Share Out!

  • What are your best tools, resources, or strategies to foster student collaboration?
  • What new strategies did you learn about this morning that you plan to use in your classes to foster effective student collaboration?

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Co-Planning time!

  • In your module or course-specific groups, look at an upcoming project, lesson, or assignment
  • How will you apply one of these tools or strategies to increase effective student collaboration for that upcoming lesson?
  • What is one challenge regarding effective student collaboration that you want to tackle?

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4 Corners

1 Grades K-1

2 Grades 2-3

3 Grades 4-5

4 Multiple Grades

Discuss:

When did you attend core training?

How many years have you been teaching launch?

What modules do you teach?

What have you found success with in teaching your module(s)?

What have you found to be most challenging?

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Don’t forget share tips/tricks/resources and exchange contact information!

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4 Corners

1 Let’s Talk APB

Discuss: In what ways does the APB Approach support student learning?

2 Student Collaboration

Discuss: What are some examples of student collaboration in your classroom?

3 Using Launch Logs

Discuss: Talk about how you use launch logs in your classroom.

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4 Logistics

Discuss: How do you break apart the 10 hour modules? How do you organize student materials? How do you set up your room?

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Rate this session in the conference app!

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