Kelsey Magaña

Final Reflection 

 

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Vita and Taniyah were really excited to continue S.T.E.A.M. Club when we switched to the hybrid model at school. Vita helped me prep materials weekly for other teachers based on a Science Friday Menu that I created. 

 

I was able to get a large donation of materials from Camp Edmo so that we can continue project based learning at our school for years to come. 

 

Taniyah was able to continue supporting students at home during our Friday virtual sessions. I was so proud of both of them and my student teacher, Amelia. They all grew significantly as leaders and teachers. 

 

What went well?

Science Fridays were a hit! All grade levels at my school participated. We made volcanoes, ice cream, diet coke & mentos  fountains, lava lamps, towers, magic milk, and oobleck during the last weeks of school. Students of all ages benefitted from the planning and requests of student leaders. The success of Science Fridays was a direct extension and result of the collaboration between student leaders and community partners. 

 

Challenges

Physically and logistically it was hard to complete this project during hybrid learning. I was unable to truly measure student growth through tests or narrative writing. I was able to collect written comments from my student teacher, other teachers, and student leaders. It was more challenging for Taniyah to articulate her own success since she never returned to school on campus. It was challenging to work with Vita because of our conflicting class schedules and COVID-protocols. We had a limited window of prep time when my first grade students were at P.E. It was also challenging to build community between my two science leaders when we were physically disconnected. 

In the future, I hope to prompt more collaboration between leaders. 

 

Aha moments 

When Taniyah was teaching S.T.E.A.M. Club toward the end of the year online and showing the diet coke & mentos to her little brother at home I could see how much she was juggling. I was beyond proud of her and so excited that she was sharing this experience with the next generation in a beautiful way. 

 

When I did the same experiment with my students at school, they were beyond excited and were able to thank Vita while she watched from across the street. My students also repeated the experiment and showed our principal to show that they had become experts. All of this made the student leaders feel really proud of everything they had accomplished. Their parents were also very proud of them and so were their teachers. 

 

Their joy with the students and their families was the most precious and meaningful part of this entire process. 

 

Questions 

How can I continue to foster leadership through S.T.E.A.M. Club at my school? How can I make a plan that is structured and ongoing? Is there a way we can make Friday Choice time have different rooms for different clubs? That could be really fun. How can I document and share all of the materials we have created for S.T.E.A.M. Club this year?

How can I make a leader handbook for future students and teachers to try this?