Page 1 - TTWIWinter2024V2

TEACHING
Winter 2024, Volume 2
WISCONSIN’S 4K–12 EDUCATION CONNECTIONTODAY WI ™

“I wish we could stay Finding a Signal

here all day.” Prairie School research team ventures
to remote forest in Costa Rica as part

STEAM at Southern Door Schools of school’s first J-Term experience.
creativity, and chal-
lenge themselves to Brendan O’Brien
think critically when Director of Communica-
faced with frustration tion
or failure. The Prairie School
As one of There is no hot water
Southern Door Ele- at the Pacuare Reserve in
mentary’s third grade Limon, Costa Rica. No
classes is lining up electricity, either. Power,
and ready to head when required, is provided
out of the classroom, courtesy of a portable gen-
STEAM Teacher, erator. Plastic, well-used
Jessica Meacham, cutlery is washed in a rudi-
hears a student say, mentary basin where water
Jessica Meacham “I wish we could is channeled via an exposed
Elementary STEAM Teacher, District stay here all day.” This type of feedback is network of PVC piping. In
Media Tech (ParentSquare & Website), common from Southern Door’s students. small bunk rooms black
Social Media Coordinator, CTE Coor- They visit the makerspace once a week for netting surrounds each bed, a preventative hiked into the jungle to study the behavior of
dinator, CTE Teaching & Learning 60 minutes to engage in STEAM challenges measure easily defeated by the cockroaches. local primates.
Leader and activities. The main focus of their time It was here 20 students and three teachers “The students would time how long the
Southern Door Schools there is collaborative group work to identify from The Prairie School, in Wind Point, Wis- monkeys were doing certain things — eating,
As one of Southern Door Elementary’s solutions to real-world challenges. While consin, had the January of their lives. foraging, grooming, napping,” says Jean
third grade classes is lining up and ready to the end result might seem most important: This research trip, titled Felines and Weaver, trip coordinator and Prairie’s Science
head out of the classroom, STEAM Teacher, a solution that meets the client’s needs, Primates, was part of the school’s first-ever Department Chair. “If you get glimpses of that
Jessica Meacham, hears a student say, the process is equally important. Students J-Term experience, a new, between semesters every day, that builds up to significant data to
“I wish we could stay here all day.” This work to refine their communication skills, program with a goal of exposing students to understand them. If you can understand them,
type of feedback is common from Southern express their creativity, and challenge topics that cannot be offered in the classroom then you can protect them.”
Door’s students. They visit the makerspace themselves to think critically when faced while providing hands-on learning experi- And this — the understanding and pro-
once a week for 60 minutes to engage in with frustration or failure. ences with deep-dive focus. tecting of the jungle’s inhabitants — is central
STEAM challenges and activities. The At the elementary level, the Fab Lab Check and check. to Pacuare’s work of ensuring a safe haven for
main focus of their time there is collab- has a balance of non-tech and high-tech Anyone familiar with teenagers under- the wildlife, a treasure deserving of apprecia-
orative group work to identify solutions to tools. From cardboard and hand tools to stands the things capable of getting them tion.
real-world challenges. While the end result 3D printers and laser cutters, students are out of bed at five in the morning is . . . well, “From the start it was clear Costa Rica
might seem most important: a solution that engaged in the engineering process at an it’s not a long list. Turns out, however, that has a very different mindset about the envi-
meets the client’s needs, the process is early age. If you ask students what their monkeys are one such motivator. ronment than Americans do,” says Weaver.
equally important. Students work to refine favorite is in the STEAM room, you’ll get Every morning, their path guided by
their communication skills, express their wooden railings, their bodies protected by
Continued on Page 9 long clothing and thick boots, the Prairie team Continued on Page 4

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