Welcome Patriots!
The 2020-2021 school year is under way! We sure do wish the hallways and classrooms were filled with students, but seeing smiling faces on screen right now is enough to make us teachers happy. We look forward to having kiddos back in the building as soon as we can, but in the meantime the Pitner staff is eager to make sure we are meeting the needs of all our students and families. Our teachers went through a rigorous 3 weeks of pre-planning full of training on our new CTLS Learn platform. We appreciate your patience and support as we learn to troubleshoot the technical issues that arise. Be sure to contact your child's homeroom teacher if you are experiencing technical difficulties. You may also need to reach out to the CTLS Support Team at [email protected]
Our STEM/STEAM opportunities for our virtual and face-to-face students will look a little different this year. We are working on a few challenges which our virtual AND face-to-face students can participate in. Stay tuned for more information!
We are currently not accepting any STEM donations. Please do not send in recyclable materials, or other STEM donations, until further notice.
Our STEM/STEAM opportunities for our virtual and face-to-face students will look a little different this year. We are working on a few challenges which our virtual AND face-to-face students can participate in. Stay tuned for more information!
We are currently not accepting any STEM donations. Please do not send in recyclable materials, or other STEM donations, until further notice.
Creativity Challenges to do At Home
Take a look at the list below and encourage your student(s) to stay active, think creatively, and challenge themselves.
- Create a robot using only recycled materials. (Glue and tape are allowed as well.) Have an awesome creation to share? Send a picture to [email protected] and your creation may be featured on this blog!
- Build a catapult! You'll need craft sticks, rubber bands, and something to catapult. You may also want to use a spoon, a bottle cap, or some other supply to hold your "ammunition". There are plans you can find online, but I encourage you to use trial and error to see if you can build without instructions! Send a video of your catapult in action to [email protected]
- Build a vertical marble run! You can accomplish this with straws, sticks, toilet paper/paper towel tubes, etc. Don't have a marble? Make your own out of playdough or find a sphere shaped candy! Be sure to ask your parents before putting tape on your walls... Try taping your course on a piece of cardboard and leaning it against the wall instead of taping directly on the wall. Capture a video of your marble run in action and send it over to [email protected]
- Have you learned to tie your shoes yet? There are tons of youtube videos that can help if you haven't mastered this skill yet. Be sure to only access youtube if you have parental permission!
- Wondering what to do on a rainy day? Design the ultimate fort! Grab a pencil and sketch paper and show us what your ultimate tree fort would look like! Want to take in a step further? Use cardboard, scrap wood, or other materials to make a mini prototype of your fort!
- Create your own parachute. Look for objects around the house, like coffee filters, plastic shopping bags, etc. Strong and cardboard will come in handy too! What will you be Dropping? An Egg? A potato? Your favorite stuffed animal? What will you be dropping it from? Your deck? A ladder? Be sure you have parental permission and help!
- Create secret messages to share with others through email or letters to your family members. See if you can use the cipher below to decode my message
- 1= D, 2= E, 3= F, 4= G, 5= H, 6= I, 7= J, 8= K, 9= L, 10= M, 11= N, 12= 0, 13= P, 14= Q, 15= R, 16= S, 17= T, 18= U, 19= V, 20= W, 21= X, 22= Y, 23= Z, 24= A, 25= B, 26=C
- Want to learn to code?
- 4th and 5th graders: Check out CodeAvengers.com Sign up for a free trial and work through the guided tutorials to learn how to use javascript, python, and more!
- K-2nd grade: Email [email protected] and ask to be added to The Foos roster. I'll enter your student into my school account and send you the code and instructions to access our account. This is game-like drag and drop coding. No previous skills required!
- All ages: Check out Code.org No account required. Search for hour of code, and ave fun exploring all the options!
Great Article!
The Most-Hired Employees Have These Skills
By Ryan Jenkins, Inc.com
This July 2019 article lists the 5 most in-demand soft skills, and the 10 most in-demand hard-skills companies look for in job candidates. STEAM Education in elementary school can set the foundation for future success by providing relevant and purposeful opportunities for students to engage in the 4Cs: Communication, Collaboration, Critical thinking, and Creativity. STEAM challenges allow our students to address real-world problems, brainstorm possible solutions, design, create, and test ideas, integrate content standards with personal passion, and experiment with new and different skills, tasks, and thinking in a safe, low-risk environment. The Engineering Design Process provides the guiding structure our students need in order to turn their thoughts into reality, and it encourages our students to focus more time and effort on the process, rather than the product. Check out the article, and consider the differences between the future you prepared for as a young student versus the future your children are currently preparing for. I'm always up for chatting about this if you have questions, concerns, or just the desire to hear more or share your own thoughts!
Welcome to the 2020-2021 school year!
This will be my 14th year with the Cobb County School District. I spent my first seven years teaching Kindergarten and second grade, and I'm now beginning my 7th year as an Innovation Specialist. My role as Innovation Specialist allowed me to dive deep into the world of STEM/STEAM and Innovation, and I found my passion in coaching teachers to better integrate STEM/STEAM and embed the purposeful use of technology into everyday instruction. I grew up in the Northeast and moved to Georgia in 1998. I graduated from Pope High School in East Cobb, and spent the next 4 years playing soccer at Georgia State University. My husband and I live in Cartersville, and we have a 6 year old son in first grade and a 2 year old son. We love being outside, whether we are mountain biking, hiking, or relaxing at a Braves game! I am finishing my final semester of my masters degree in Instructional technology through Kennesaw State University, and will graduate in December. My degree program has been entirely online, so I know what you all are going through with online learning. What a time to be enrolled in an Instructional Technology degree program (Thanks, COVID...)! I am super excited to get this year started, and can't wait to help move our STEAM initiatives forward! |