Technology

The history of technological innovation in the classroom at TPS is certainly a joyful one, as each decade brought new gear, new computers, and new ways to demonstrate teaching and learning. Matt Murray, the Director of Technology Instruction, brings us up to date on what is happening in classrooms throughout TPS.

The classrooms of TPS have always been filled with makers and doers, tinkerers and scientists, mathematicians and engineers, aspiring technologists and even futurists. From the very beginning, teachers operating within our progressive school model have challenged students with rigorous projectbased learning activities — whether it be constructing an “egg protector” and conducting drop tests in the 2000s or collaborating on a “super whizzy rocket ship” in the 1980s. Another theme of past teaching and learning as it pertained to STEAM, however, was the isolation and siloing of this specialized work. Whether it was aeronautical engineering or inventive prototyping, a scope and sequence were missing from the curricula as were some integrative applications that STEAM uniquely offers as a multidisciplinary approach to pedagogy. With the launch of the Junior Unit Full STEAM Ahead Program in the fall of 2018, TPS endeavored to dedicate full blocks of class time to rethink STEAM education in the context of a progressive education experience as well as redefine capstone projects students ventured to create. In the Upper Grades, the student STEAM experience now includes inventing musical instruments with homemade circuits, programming functions to navigate drones safely, and automating animatronic robots to draw works of art. In the Lower Grades, a STEAM integration specialist now works with teachers to intermingle engineering principles and design thinking with traditional curricular endeavors; for example, 3rd graders this year integrated their own invented seed project with a block-based coded animation that enhanced their final presentations.

In the coming years, teachers and students at TPS will continue to build their understanding of the interconnected world by maintaining their maker mindsets, but they will also create a future that’s shaped by their STEAM-powered making.

Thank you for the trust, partnership, and learning we shared this year. We look forward to seeing where you go next. Happy Anniversary TPS!

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