DISTINGUISHED GOOGLE EDUCATOR LEADS LOWER SCHOOL ON
STEAM Journey 7TH GRADERS STEAM teacher Allison Berry is a Google Certified Trainer who has distinguished herself as a top Google educator in the metro area. She was a speaker for a Googlefor-Education training group consisting of Atlanta Public School faculty. “Google for Education Certified Trainers are passionate and driven education professionals with a desire to help others transform classrooms with technology,” according to Google. Google for Education offers a suite of services, resources, and technology, directly for implementation in classrooms. Ms. Berry has seen the fruits of this program in her classroom. She is part of an online Google Group with every Googlecertified educator in North America and around the globe. “We are always sharing lesson plans that incorporate technology and the four Cs of 21st learning -- collaboration, critical thinking, communication, and creativity,” Ms. Berry said. “I’ve enjoyed using lessons that are already planned and improved upon in the classroom from other trainers.”
“MaKey-MaKey” Video Game Controllers Teams of students in Ms. Berry’s seventh grade classes competed against each other in the MaKey-MaKey Controller Project. Students learned about opened and closed circuits by creating working video game controllers with a small invention kit called a MaKey-MaKey. Visiting judges rated their finished projects on creativity, quality, and comfort of the controller. Betsy Trenado Bautista and Sarah Pineda made up one of the winning teams. After trying a standard rectangular design, Betsy didn’t like how their controller looked. “I drew a random shape on a piece of pink paper, and it looked like a fat peppa pig, so that’s what we called our controller,” Betsy said laughing. “We wanted it to pop!” added Sarah. Adding red foam handles, the girls considered the comfort of the user as well as the overall style of the controller. They finished it off with gold push pins for buttons and a strip of aluminum foil as a conductor. “We had to try different tools and pick the right one to succeed,” explained Betsy. “I want to be a doctor, and doctors kind of do the same thing with the tools they use.” Before attending Holy Spirit Prep, neither Betsy nor Sarah had the opportunity to experience STEAM. “We had it at my old school, but I didn’t get to sign up for it,” remembered Betsy. “I’m glad at I get to do it here,” Sarah added. “It makes learning fun.”
