USPTO National Summer Teacher Institute

A colleague and I made a trip to Denver, CO in July to take part in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) 2017 National Summer Teacher Institute (https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/outreach-and-education/national-summer-teacher-institute). We applied in spring to attend and the Idaho STEM Action Center helped us get there by offering grants for travel related expenses.

Our first evening there we met the cohort and USPTO staff. The staff member at our table told us that it was more like a boot camp than an institute. We all laughed while she looked on. We learned the next day, it wasn't a joke.

Day 1- 2017 NSTI

Our schedule, including working on the group project, consisted of 12 hour days, if not longer. However, the experience was well worth the hours invested. We learned throughout the day about patents, trademarks, copyrights, inventing, tinkering, and more. 

Tinkering Station

Steve Davee was an amazing speaker and discussed tinkering and makerspace.

He also has two books that are available in free downloads.

NBC Learn educational resources

In the evenings, groups worked on the Teacher Innovator Challenge. Deciding on an invention was the hardest part of the challenge. However, the process of going through the invention process helped developed strong connections between the learning throughout the day. In addition, it provided insight to how students may feel working on similar projects.

Enjoying the beautiful DU campus on the way back from lunch

Dr. Richard Charles from Cherry Creek School District in Denver shared about the innovation taking place in their district and discussed the use of makerspace.

Day 2-2017 NSTI

On the second day of the institute we dove into patents and patent searches. We heard from Nokero's CEO Steve Katsaros from Rome. It is amazing how helping people is a strong motivation for inventions. Eric Payne from NREL also spoke in the evening and shared his passion for inventing and how it relates to the projects at NREL.

Day 3-NSTI

Trademarks were the emphasis for the third day. The USPTO has numerous resources available on their website for inventors and educators https://www.uspto.gov/.

So many resources were shared throughout the week

Warner Brothers

Day 4-NSTI

Day four brought more amazing information on copyrights, inspirational talks from Doug Scott, educator, and Jacqueline Ros, founder and CEO of Revolar. In the evening, we presented all our hard work on the group projects to a panel of professionals involved in inventing, patents, etc.

Art

Creativity was emphasized throughout the institute with opportunities to practice activities we could share with our students.

Music

Games

On the fifth day, we toured NREL, which is an amazing facility, and made our way to the airport after lunch. Many of us had difficulty making it out due to a summer storm over the Denver Airport. However, I used some of that time in the airport to reflect on the institute while it was fresh and develop my opportunities for implementation into my elementary engineering classroom. Travel issues aside, it was an amazing week full of professional growth.

Implementation Plans