ICREATE Lab Day with Students

 Today, we got to present our 20 minute lab activity to some 4th graders. In our activty we were talking about tesselations and patterns in nature. The activity was to to put together the tesselation, which was a puzzle of seaturtles that could all fit together perfectly. If there was extra time we had a matching game availabe as well as some coloring pages to further the students knowledge and imagination when it came to tesselations. 

The first group of three we had was very energetic and ready to learn. The students were excited to answer questions and engage in the activity! We were able to get through the puzzle, and the mathching game, where they competed against eachother for the fastest time. We were not able to get to the coloring pages becasue time ran out, but the students were able to tell us what they learned from our station!

However, the second group of three was the oppostie. They were very shy and nervous to speak. They were also scared to touch anything unless we specifically said, "you can start now." They were able to get through the puzzle, the matching game, and they were to start their coloring pages, but could not complete them. When we quizzed the students, and they needed help remember what exactly they were supposed to be learning. 

Lastly, the final group we had was a group of two. We decided to change it up a little bit. We introduced the activity and learning objectives as usual, and had them do the puzzle. For the competition match matching, as one was matching, the other was coloring a coloring page, and then they swapped. This was becuase we wanted the pictures in the game to be new, and so they weren't standing there oding nothing. This group was also needed a little help with our informal assessment questions, but were able to understand and get their with a series of questions that led them there. 

From this experience I learned that it is okay to change things as you go. Some studens learn faster and some take a little longer to understand things. I learned the importance of back up plans due to how fast some students learn. It is also important to be prepared with questions and comments in order to get the students thinking about what they are doing, learning, and thinking.

The ISTE standardi compared my experience to is 3c and 4a:

    3c: Plan collaboratively with other educators to create learning activities that cross disciplines to strengthen student understanding of CT and CS concepts and transfer application of knowledge in new contexts.

    4a: Design CT activities where data can be obtained, analyzed and represented to support problem-solving and learning in other content areas. 

I chose this one because I was working with a group of other educators to create and assess this activity. We were able to help the students understand our concept but understand it in different ways.