Code & STEAM
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The second Learning Teaching and Training activity of the Erasmus ‘Steam Teams’ project was held from May 2 to 6th 2022 in Istituto Comprensive Militi, Barcellona di Pozzo in Sicily. 15 participants travelled from Spain (2), Ireland (5), Portugal (4) and Turkey (4) on May 1st.
On Monday 2nd the group visited Militi school campus.
On Monday 2nd the group visited Militi school campus.
The group was officially welcomed by the school headmistress and a performance of traditional music and song presented by the students.
The morning was spent attending a coding workshop. Participants visited a range of class groups where students demonstrated a range of coding activities such as Pixel art, Cody Roby, augmented reality. The teacher explained the methodologies and participants had the opportunity to engage with the students in the activities. It was noted that there was a solid integration of coding, technology and other curricular areas such as history or English.
In the afternoon the participants worked on refining lesson plans from LTT1. Each country presented their work and these were analysed through the filter of the agreed lesson rubric and recommendations made. It became clear that there would be benefit in having an agreed format for the lesson plans and it was decided to develop a template for use with all lessons. Once the lessons have been refined they will be shaped to the agreed template and then translated into the languages of the partner countries. These will then be uploaded to the project website. Participants were then divided into groups to examine the science curricula for 3rd and 4th grade in each of the partner countries. Based on the results of this activity, and following from a similar activity with 5th/6th grade during LTT1, it was felt that it was very limiting to develop lessons which exactly matched all national curricula. In some cases there are substantial differences in the curricula, particularly at the age at which certain themes are dealt with. It was agreed that lesson themes would be selected in order to maximise relevance to each country but where it was not possible to match all countries then the am would be to match as many as possible.
On day 2 the participants travelled to the Santa Venera campus where another coding workshop was held. Here there were demonstrations in digital activities such as binary mathematics and using code in music. They then returned to the Militi campus where the coordinator outlined the badging program. He demonstrated both the user and administrator dashboards and the staff responsible for approving badging in each school were identified. Participants then collaborated on a set of standard fro the awarding of coding badges and also badges in cooperative learning and collaborative project work.
The group then held a Teachmeet with the theme of ‘Making Teams Work’. A range of technologies and methodologies which can be used to facilitate collaborative work in the classroom were presented. These resources were compiled and the list shared with all partner schools. The Portuguese team then demonstrated a comprehensive online platform for teaching computational thinking and coding.
On Wednesday the team travelled to Taormina. There they participated in a guided tour of the historical sites (churches, theatre etc) and took part in a number of cultural activities.
On Thursday the group returned to the Militi campus where the morning was spent on project updates (use of mascot/ social media etc). The coordinators from each country held an online conference to ensure clarity on follow on activities and also to agree exact dates for LTT3 in Turkey.
The group then returned to the task of identifying shared themes for lessons to be prepared for LTT3.
Following the meeting the group were taken on a guided tour of the castle of Milazzo to discover the history of the town.
Friday was designated for further cultural activities. At a concluding dinner certificates of participation were given to each participant and the LTT was formally concluded. Many thanks were expressed to the host country for a very productive week. It was particularly noted how embedded coding is in the schools that the team had visited and how much of what was demonstrated would be implemented in the schools of the visiting participants
The morning was spent attending a coding workshop. Participants visited a range of class groups where students demonstrated a range of coding activities such as Pixel art, Cody Roby, augmented reality. The teacher explained the methodologies and participants had the opportunity to engage with the students in the activities. It was noted that there was a solid integration of coding, technology and other curricular areas such as history or English.
In the afternoon the participants worked on refining lesson plans from LTT1. Each country presented their work and these were analysed through the filter of the agreed lesson rubric and recommendations made. It became clear that there would be benefit in having an agreed format for the lesson plans and it was decided to develop a template for use with all lessons. Once the lessons have been refined they will be shaped to the agreed template and then translated into the languages of the partner countries. These will then be uploaded to the project website. Participants were then divided into groups to examine the science curricula for 3rd and 4th grade in each of the partner countries. Based on the results of this activity, and following from a similar activity with 5th/6th grade during LTT1, it was felt that it was very limiting to develop lessons which exactly matched all national curricula. In some cases there are substantial differences in the curricula, particularly at the age at which certain themes are dealt with. It was agreed that lesson themes would be selected in order to maximise relevance to each country but where it was not possible to match all countries then the am would be to match as many as possible.
On day 2 the participants travelled to the Santa Venera campus where another coding workshop was held. Here there were demonstrations in digital activities such as binary mathematics and using code in music. They then returned to the Militi campus where the coordinator outlined the badging program. He demonstrated both the user and administrator dashboards and the staff responsible for approving badging in each school were identified. Participants then collaborated on a set of standard fro the awarding of coding badges and also badges in cooperative learning and collaborative project work.
The group then held a Teachmeet with the theme of ‘Making Teams Work’. A range of technologies and methodologies which can be used to facilitate collaborative work in the classroom were presented. These resources were compiled and the list shared with all partner schools. The Portuguese team then demonstrated a comprehensive online platform for teaching computational thinking and coding.
On Wednesday the team travelled to Taormina. There they participated in a guided tour of the historical sites (churches, theatre etc) and took part in a number of cultural activities.
On Thursday the group returned to the Militi campus where the morning was spent on project updates (use of mascot/ social media etc). The coordinators from each country held an online conference to ensure clarity on follow on activities and also to agree exact dates for LTT3 in Turkey.
The group then returned to the task of identifying shared themes for lessons to be prepared for LTT3.
Following the meeting the group were taken on a guided tour of the castle of Milazzo to discover the history of the town.
Friday was designated for further cultural activities. At a concluding dinner certificates of participation were given to each participant and the LTT was formally concluded. Many thanks were expressed to the host country for a very productive week. It was particularly noted how embedded coding is in the schools that the team had visited and how much of what was demonstrated would be implemented in the schools of the visiting participants
Full STEAM Ahead!
Learning, Teaching and Training gets underway in Soto del Real
The first LTT meeting for the Erasmus project ‘STEAM Teams’ was held in Colegio Salesianos ‘El Pilar’ in Soto del Real, Spain from March 28th – April 1st 2022. 15 Participants travelled on March 27th from Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Turkey.
The group was officially welcomed to the school by the headmaster and primary director. The students gave a musical presentation of a number of traditional Spanish songs. Participants were presented with artwork by students which featured the language of the visitors.
Participants then toured the school. In a number of classes, they viewed examples of cooperative learning.
They then proceeded to the town hall where they met with the Mayor of Soto del Real. The main objectives of the project were explained to the mayor and the importance of cultural and educational exchanges such as this was stressed. A presentation was made to the mayor on behalf of the project participants. Following the meeting the participants went on a guided tour of the town.
In the afternoon a workshop was held on ensuring there was a clear shared understanding of STEAM among all participants. A number of academic papers and online resources were analysed and following this a rubric was developed for assessing work completed during the lesson cycles.
On Tuesday the group travelled to Toledo where they participated in a variety of planned activities. The focus of the visit was the history of Toledo and its importance in the culture and history of Spain.
The next workshops involved all participants presenting their 5th and 6th class curricula. Then in groups they looked to find common areas which would serve as the most relevant themes for developing STEAM lessons. These lessons will be assessed under the rubric developed in Monday’s workshop. It became clear that there are quite substantial differences in when particular topics are taught in partner countries. Some topics which would lend themselves to very impactful STEAM lessons are not within the common age range of the primary schools.
On Thursday the group gathered in the school to visit classes and work with the students. Visiting teachers had prepared a number of web quests on their own countries and these were completed with the students under the guidance of the class teacher and with the visiting teachers refining and clarifying the information gathered, Teachers then visited classes at all levels and learning support classes.
Next the group participated in a Teachmeet. The focus of this activity was ‘My favourite STEAM Resource’. All visiting teachers and a group of Spanish teachers gave a short presentation of a resource that they found invaluable in teaching in the areas of STEM and how these might be used in the classroom. These resources were collated in to a document which will be shared with teachers in all schools.
A coordinators meeting was then held in the school with a number of others joining via video-link. The coordinator presented a review of the project to date with particular emphasis on what was achieved during the Spanish LTT. Key follow-on actions were identified and there was discussion on planning activities for the subsequent LTT in Italy.
On the final day the group travelled to Madrid and met with the head of education for North Madrid. At this meeting the group were briefed on developments in STEM education in the Madrid. The project coordinator outlined the key aspects of the STEAM Teams project and areas of common interest were discussed. There was an examination of the relevant data both in Spain and internationally on the participation of girls in STEM. on the importance of engaging girls more in this area. A number of activities were discussed where students could identify female role models in the various STEM fields.
The group was officially welcomed to the school by the headmaster and primary director. The students gave a musical presentation of a number of traditional Spanish songs. Participants were presented with artwork by students which featured the language of the visitors.
Participants then toured the school. In a number of classes, they viewed examples of cooperative learning.
They then proceeded to the town hall where they met with the Mayor of Soto del Real. The main objectives of the project were explained to the mayor and the importance of cultural and educational exchanges such as this was stressed. A presentation was made to the mayor on behalf of the project participants. Following the meeting the participants went on a guided tour of the town.
In the afternoon a workshop was held on ensuring there was a clear shared understanding of STEAM among all participants. A number of academic papers and online resources were analysed and following this a rubric was developed for assessing work completed during the lesson cycles.
On Tuesday the group travelled to Toledo where they participated in a variety of planned activities. The focus of the visit was the history of Toledo and its importance in the culture and history of Spain.
The next workshops involved all participants presenting their 5th and 6th class curricula. Then in groups they looked to find common areas which would serve as the most relevant themes for developing STEAM lessons. These lessons will be assessed under the rubric developed in Monday’s workshop. It became clear that there are quite substantial differences in when particular topics are taught in partner countries. Some topics which would lend themselves to very impactful STEAM lessons are not within the common age range of the primary schools.
On Thursday the group gathered in the school to visit classes and work with the students. Visiting teachers had prepared a number of web quests on their own countries and these were completed with the students under the guidance of the class teacher and with the visiting teachers refining and clarifying the information gathered, Teachers then visited classes at all levels and learning support classes.
Next the group participated in a Teachmeet. The focus of this activity was ‘My favourite STEAM Resource’. All visiting teachers and a group of Spanish teachers gave a short presentation of a resource that they found invaluable in teaching in the areas of STEM and how these might be used in the classroom. These resources were collated in to a document which will be shared with teachers in all schools.
A coordinators meeting was then held in the school with a number of others joining via video-link. The coordinator presented a review of the project to date with particular emphasis on what was achieved during the Spanish LTT. Key follow-on actions were identified and there was discussion on planning activities for the subsequent LTT in Italy.
On the final day the group travelled to Madrid and met with the head of education for North Madrid. At this meeting the group were briefed on developments in STEM education in the Madrid. The project coordinator outlined the key aspects of the STEAM Teams project and areas of common interest were discussed. There was an examination of the relevant data both in Spain and internationally on the participation of girls in STEM. on the importance of engaging girls more in this area. A number of activities were discussed where students could identify female role models in the various STEM fields.
Mascot and Logo Winners ChosenWell done to all who took part in the logo and Mascot Competitions. There was a great response to both competitions and it was very hard to choose the winners.
The winners were choses in a Eurovision-style vote. There were two parts to the vote, a popular vote of all the students and teachers in the partner schools and the expert panel comprised of the project coordinators in each country.In the end the winning mascot was from Turkey and the logo was designed by an Irish student. The mascot is called 'Patara' and she will travel to all partner countries over the next 2 years and hel[p students learn about the culture and traditions in our schools. The logo features the flags of all partner countries and the European Union flag. It also features Stephenson's Rocket and a Mars rover to show the progress of technology through history. |
The winning logo
Our mascot 'Patara'
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