The Possibilities of the Elementary Classroom

I love teaching elementary. Keep in mind, I may be biased since that is all I know.  What other teaching position gives you the freedom to integrate content areas and real-world experiences for a richer experience for students? The beauty of teaching engineering to elementary students for the last six years allowed me to do much the same just through the engineering lens.  As the engineering teacher, a specialist, I did miss the opportunity general classroom educators have to take a lesson a little longer if needed. The rewards of teaching elementary engineering far outweighed the challenges of being a specialist.

Each week, I saw 22 classes which was approximately 570 students, depending on current enrollment.  While this was a challenge for learning names and managing materials, it allowed me to build relationships and learning with students over the course of six years, kindergarten through fifth grade.  I knew exactly what students were learning in the earlier grades of engineering and could build upon that in subsequent years, developing a scope and sequence that was fairly extensive for the short time I had them each week.

My first year teaching engineering had little resemblance to what my sixth year teaching engineering looked like.  As with any teaching position, it takes time to find what works for the students and what the teacher can manage.  I loved the freedom I had in my classroom.  Not all educators can say that.  However, with good administrators, I had freedom in the general classroom but even more so in the engineering classroom.  The freedom created a sense of empowerment that allowed me to try things I hadn't tried before, especially with class sizes as large as 32 students.

My instruction had definitely morphed into facilitation.  My goal was to have students constructing their own knowledge through individual and collaborative challenges.  As students developed their skills in building from instructions, designing 3D prints, using robotics, programming on Raspberry Pi and more, I wanted them to attempt to combine some of these skills for open-ended projects. I wanted students to learn to identify problems, rather than me giving them a problem, and then develop a solution based on their accumulated skills.  Did this always work out?  No, but when it did the results were powerful.

I still feel as though I have many practices and projects I would like to try in the elementary classroom.  I would love to hear about some of the practices and projects you have tried as well.  There just seems to be a limitless amount of possibilities for the elementary classroom.

Resources Abound at the Library of Congress for Educators

Educators, if you have not looked into the resources available at the Library of Congress, it's time to check it out.  I have to admit the searches can be overwhelming.  I had a couple of weeks at the start of my fellowship to browse and search.  There were so many relevant resources but at times I couldn't find specific items for topics.  It took me a couple of months to learn some of the techniques from my colleagues in the Learning and Innovation Office.  The exploration was well worth the effort.  Elementary educators cover all the content areas except for a few specials. As educators that cover so many subjects, the Library of Congress digital resources is perfect for making great connections for your students.  

The primary and secondary resources available at the Library of Congress come in a rich variety.  There are audio files, webcasts, YouTube videos, hand-written notebooks, pictures, newspapers, books, and more.  Not only can you use these resources to enhance your instruction, but students can also use them to make connections between their learning and historical context.  Imagine students creating their own products with Library sources and learning to cite them appropriately.  For younger students, I might create a folder of possible resources for them to use in a shared Microsoft or Google folder.  

Searches can be made easier by creating a list of potential search terms.  Terms are used differently throughout the year.  It's important to understand that a refrigerator used to be an icebox and light bulbs were incandescent lamps.  This is where an internet search can help to identify additional terms to search under. Below are some easily accessible resources ready for educators.  Primary Source Sets include groups of various primary sources that address particular subjects.  Another great resource is using the Ask a Librarian feature available on the Library of Congress website.

Teacher Resource Page - http://www.loc.gov/teachers/

Blog - http://blogs.loc.gov/teachers/

Classroom Materials - http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/

Primary Sources Sets - http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/

Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey - https://www.loc.gov/collections/historic-american-buildings-landscapes-and-engineering-records/about-this-collection/

Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers at the Library of Congress - https://www.loc.gov/collections/alexander-graham-bell-papers/about-this-collection/

Resources from the Science Reference Division (research guides, everyday mysteries, etc.) - http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/

Teaching with Primary Sources Network has a STEM Group - https://tpsteachersnetwork.org//

Congressional information https://www.congress.gov/

Congressional Research Services has some reports that are also available to the public https://crsreports.congress.gov/

Remember each item you find in the Library's resources has a citation tool towards the bottom of the page.

So Much Fun Creating Lessons!

I have spent several weeks now exploring, or should I say scratching the surface, of interesting and engaging primary sources at the Library of Congress.  There is something for everyone in the digitized resources, not to mention the vast materials housed by this amazing institution.  I am finally at the point where I can bring in my own classroom experiences and connect them to the primary sources for use in the classroom or a makerspace.  It's been interesting and frustrating that it took me three months to get my feet under me, but my excitement as I developed two new lessons this week, one connecting iceboxes from the 1800-1900s and insulation boxes and another using Scratch (scratch.mit.edu) to code Civil War bugle calls, brings back memories of collaborating at my school.  The Scratch lesson was even more fun to develop because I was able to collaborate with our Teacher-in-Residence to share with her the possibilities of Scratch with music.  It never ceases to amaze me how fun it can be to collaborate with other educators on projects.  Lessons also come out so much better when they build off of each other's strengths.  These lessons are still being developed, but keep an eye on the Library of Congress, Learning and Innovation, Teacher's Blog for these and other lessons https://blogs.loc.gov/teachers/.