By Mike Schoeffel
CP Reporter
Ellen Wright is down on the floor with her students, trying to program a small blue robot named Dash to move into a square marked by blue tape on the floor.
One of the students, Raegan Mitkowski, is holding an iPad. Mitkowski gives the robot a command, and off it goes.
Dash rolls within inches of the correct square, then stops. The students look dejected. Wright busts out a tape measure, the students talk it over, and an adjustment is made.
Attempt number two: Dash rolls near the correct square, haults for a split-second, jerks forward into its intended destination, then stops. The students erupt in joy. They’ve gotten it right.
Minutes later, at the end of the class, Wright addresses her students.
“I heard a lot of teamwork today,” she says. “I didn’t hear anybody being bossy, but I heard a lot of people giving good advice. That’s really important when you’re working with your classmates. Thank you for coming in here today.”
All in a day’s work at the Carmel Collaboration Center, the Carmel School’s version of a STEAM Lab (short for science, technology, engineering, art, and math). Carmel School debuted the CCC — which features robots, iPads, and green screens — in Oct. 2017 with the aim of helping elementary-level students apply critical thinking skills to solve real-world problems with technology, and to discover the interconnectedness between subjects.
“They need to be able to do math and see how it applies to science, engineering, art, and other subjects,” said Dr. Melanie Casper, assistant head of school. “We want the children to see the connections throughout the curriculum as they take ownership over projects. It’s exciting to see what they can do as they discover themselves, and that’s what a lot of this program is about.”
Student ownership of each project is, indeed, one of the main focuses of the CCC. Students are asked — with some help from their teachers — to put together a rubric for each project. After receiving their challenge, the students are tasked with coming up with a list of things they need to successfully complete the project, said Wright.
On one recent project, students had to design and build a cardboard wagon that could hold 10 candy pumpkins as Dash pulled it across the room. However, after deciding on a blueprint and fashioning a wagon, they couldn’t get the wheels to turn.
One student suggested using a jetpack instead of a wagon. Another suggested a sled. But the group was determined to make the wagon work, so they studied pictures of axles and wheels and eventually developed a working model.
“The plan isn’t always going to work right the first time,” said Wright. “Sometimes you have to improvise and improve. We try to make sure it’s all student-centered, so they’ll feel ownership of each project.”
The design loop — ask, imagine, plan, create, and improve– is at the heart of all CCC projects. It’s the process that puts — and keeps — every project in motion, and it teaches students that envisioning, collaborating, and making adjustments are crucial to success, said Wright.
When the CCC was first implemented in Oct. 2017, Wright watched her students become “frustrated, because the technology was new to them.” Over time, however, Wright has noticed that her students no longer “feel thrown off when they come across a challenge.”
The three biggest skills she’s seen her students develop are perseverance, patience, and teamwork.
“This is such a non-threatening way to practice those things,” she said. “We’re not in front of a bunch of people on a sports field. You’re not being graded, not taking a test. It’s a way to show them that it’s actually a good thing to make mistakes.”
The key is in the application: students aren’t just absorbing information without any context of how it might be used in the real world. Instead, students are learning why it’s important to know that, say, nine times three is 27, and how that knowledge can exact change in their surroundings.
“What we’re saying is ‘You can do nine times three, but how to do you apply that in a creative way?’” said Casper. “How are you going to use that in a project? They’re going to have to think about it on a different level.”
Ultimately, Casper and Wright hope to make a CCC available to students in all grades, K through 12. The older kids currently complete STEAM projects, said Casper, but they don’t have their own space like kids in the lower school. Casper also hopes to show teachers that the CCC isn’t something foreign or fleeting, but simply a fresh, interactive way to approach educating.
“Any time the students are making and creating instead of just sitting and listening, it’s a good thing,” she said. “This year, we want the students to get used to the process. Next year, when it’s running in full force, it will all seem very natural.”
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