The first year of the STEAM program at Dingeman was showcased at the Open House on March 19. The event, spanning an hour, drew a packed crowd at the school auditorium. It provided demonstrations of the STEAM lessons in all grades from Pre-K to 5. Each grade had its table displaying the lesson plans, along with interactive demos using Bee-Bots and Pro-Bots - the devices used in our classrooms to teach programming. Parent volunteers and students were on hand to explain and demonstrate sample lessons to the visitors. Children and parents were able to try the devices hands-on, guided by our volunteers.
There was a Rockin’ Science display table, featuring the science experiments for the various grades. Hard-bound copies of the lessons were available at each table for visitors to browse through. A slide show running in the background featured details of the program, videos and photos of the sessions from classrooms, and thank you notes recognizing the work of our wonderful parent volunteers. Display boards with samples of the students’ work, photos from the various classrooms and feedback comments from the kids, gave the visitors a peek into the classwork and how excited the children are about the lessons. A Pro-Bot race track was laid out in the center of the room, and children had a great time participating in a relay race using the programmed touch sensors on these devices. Children also had a chance to try their hands at programming “Flappy Bird” at the table demonstrating code.org lessons. The school participated in the “Hour of Code” back in Dec 2014, and several of the classrooms have had lessons using code.org since.
The STEAM program would not be successful, or even possible, without the time and commitment of our parent volunteers, as well as the support of our wonderful teachers and the school administration. A big Thank You to each one of you!
If you have questions, comments or feedback on the program, please contact the STEAM Chairs, Yamini Bala Sukumaran (yamini_vmenon@hotmail.com) and Gabe Gallagher (gabe@meetthegs.com).
