The D-Tech News

We are off and running in Design Tech, and we have enjoyed our first few days, though they have been quite segmented with these days off. We engaged in a 3D name tag design challenge and a paper tower challenge. Moving forward, we are going to focus on community buildng. In Design Tech, students will often work in groups for projects, while sharing materials and tools...so building a classroom connections is essential.

I look forward to sharing more about Design Tech with you through the D-Tech News, which I will try to do at least once a month. I also am going to attach the slides that I used during curriculum night in the fall. In addition, you are always welcome to ask your child to show you our Google Classroom to get an understanding of what we are doing in our class. (We will be setting up our Google Classroom when we return to school.)

It would be helpful for your child to have a few things for our classroom. Each child will have a bin that they will share with another student to store their materials, as well as projects. They are welcome to keep some things in their bin, or they can have these things in their locker.

-A pencil

-Art supplies like colored pencils and markers (Not needed everyday, but helpful to have in locker. I have plenty in my class, but I know some kids like their own.)

-A Hot Glue Gun (that can use mini-glue sticks) with their name written on it. (You can usually get these for around $3-5...and even a fairly decent one at Dollar Tree.)

- A bag of mini all-temp hot glue sticks to donate to the classroom supply. (We go through thousands of sticks each semester.)

-A composition notebook with gridlines for our Engineering Notebook. You can purchase them at Staples in the store or you can purchase them online. (Something like... https://a.co/d/11MmtCx OR https://www.staples.com/Staples-Graph-Composition-Book-9-75-x-7-5-Graph-Paper-Notebook-Blue/product_132674 OR Amazon Journal We will begin this the first full week of February, so you have a bit of time.

As the semester goes on, we may have special projects that come up with other needs, but this should be fine for now. We also have an Amazon Wishlist with materials that cover some projects and materials that would be helpful to have. I have added the link below, so if you would like to donate to our Design Tech classroom, there are some ideas for you.

Creativity is key in Design Tech, and often we find inspiration in materials that are upcycled. If you have interesting junk that could be repurposed...send it in or shoot me an email to ask if we could use it. Here are some ideas of things we love to use:

-Old small appliances that could be taken apart.

-Toilet Paper Tubes

-Lids and caps

-cardboard

- Scrap wood pieces or other construction materials

-containers

-clean egg cartons

-packaging materials with interesting shapes (We do not need packing peanuts or bubble wrap)

-Pringles Cans

-Yarn, thread, buttons, etc.

-Old t-shirts (We have a loom)

-Anything you think would be cool!

At the front of my room, I have a bin that is marked with donations. Your child can drop it off there or if it is something that is larger, I can arrange for a drop off, as we have a door to the parking lot at the back of our workshop.

Last week I shared a presentation that highlighted things about me...my family, my interests, and who I am as an educator. Below is a copy of that presentation if you would like to check it out. I still have to share some of the remaining slides with the students tomorrow.

I signed up to Beta test a new device that focuses on reflection in learning. It was just released this month, and we are going to be able to test it out for the company. So far it has been intriguing to see the capabilities of it. It incoporates AI in evaluating the reflection, and it even gives specifc feedback about the reflection. In addition, it has some brain break exercises, socail/emotional activities, and more. I am looking forward to empowering the students to share their reflections of the product with the company so they can experience what it is like to have a voice in the evolution of new products and new technology!

If you ever need anything, please email me at JenniferBond@wlcsd.org. I look forward to engaging your child in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) learning this semester!