[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Serena

Welcome to the course. I like how you are planning to use picture books, I wasn’t familiar with the Oliver Jeffers one, but it sounds great to peak their interest as you have said.

How amazing to have a new school building and what a resource for the learners to make their own maps. I like how you plan to do a plan of the school first and use Beebots to move around the map, what a fantastic use of digital tools for this age group. Then the learners will create 3D maps of the classroom using multiple resources. You could also focus on the areas that are important to the learners within the school for 3D maps.

Great ideas for map making in the junior end, thanks for sharing. I hope you enjoy the other modules in this course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Aoife

Thanks for sharing your approaches when working in the junior school. While outdoor learning provides for hands on activities, sometimes we can think it is a junior end approach and forget the value for all classes. I really like the journey sticks and nature mandalas, they sound like a lovely learning experience.

I think it is important for the junior classes to focus on an area familiar to them, something they see every day but to focus on their observations of the world around them in more detail and then to build on the observations to create the maps as you have mentioned, allowing for multiple ways to present their learning. Such a lovely idea, thanks for sharing.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Alannah

Welcome to the course. I like how you are planning to build on the resources and content from module 1 in your lesson. It is important to use the prior knowledge and make connections with the Paxi video which will also help the learners’ understanding. I like how you plan to pause the video to allow for discussion on key points and keep the learners engaged also.

The Teal Tool is a great resource and as you have mentioned it would allow for discussions on the rising temperatures using the data. You could consider using this on the smart board as a demonstration for the class also. As you have said you could use the tool to compare it with the current weather records, especially given the heat wave this summer, which allows for discussion and critical thinking on the data scientists use.

I also like how you are planning for collaboration among the school community on the positive actions they can take to care for the environment. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the other modules in the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Fiona

Welcome to the course. It is great to hear that you found the resources practical and that they gave the learners the opportunity for skills development. I like how you are focusing on talk and discussion for the learners from Lison’s paper to allow for critical thinking and to give them ownership of their learning rather than waiting for answers.

I really like how you are planning for a whole school approach with this topic and to use displays and school social media to raise awareness of climate change. You could also consider focusing on the positive actions the learners could do in school and at home and sharing this on social media too.

Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the other modules in this course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Caitriona,

Welcome to the course and it is great to hear your feedback on the ESA resources in this module. I agree that Activity 3 is more suited to a senior class and it is better to work through the series of lessons over time to allow for consolidation of learning as you do. As you have mentioned the activities allow for the development of collaboration, communication and scientific skills  too.

It is interesting that the data centres are responsible for 23% of our energy consumption and you could also research the heat generated by these data centres also and if this could be used more efficiently. That would be a worthwhile and interesting extension activity. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Siobhan

Welcome to the course and thanks for sharing your reflection on your own practice following Liston’s paper. It is important to reflect on what has been working well for you and participating in the STEPS Young Engineers programme would address many areas of STEM. This approach also works in addressing problems in the local area which makes connections to real life problems as outlined by Liston.

While we can focus on the areas of STEM, Liston’s paper, as you have outlined, wants us to focus on these areas in an integrated approach and it is something we can all work on going forward as this also links with the new STEM curriculum specification.

Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Emma,

Welcome to the course. It is great to hear your thoughts on the video and resources in this module. I like how you are planning for lots of discussion initially and guiding the discussion with the questions you have outlined.

I like how you are planning to further explore day and night through the torch activity and following up with an art based activity which is ideal for the 2nd class group. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Laura,

Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your observation plan. I like how you are planning an active, hands on investigation for the class and creating an Autumn Skywatching Diary.

I think Stellarium would be a great resource to support the learners in observing the planets at home. Through exploring the night sky for their local area in Stellarium it would support their own exploration of Stellarium while also guiding their own observations and could be scaffolded with the questions you have outlined. Great ideas, thanks for sharing. I hope you enjoy the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi John,

Welcome to the course. It is great to hear your thoughts on the documentary Home. It has beautiful imagery and as you have mentioned it is inspiring and thought provoking.

I agree that choosing clips from the documentary to explore with the class might be the best approach. This would allow for lots of class discussion and critical thinking and would allow for consolidation of knowledge from the other activities and videos in the course.

I like how you are planning for a sustainability project to build on the positive actions they can take and empower the learners that they can take action in school and at home. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Susanne,

Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Liston’s paper and the other activities and resources in this module. While we have a new curriculum specification, there are many playful approaches in the activities in this module which represent the new approaches in the specification that you have mentioned.

For younger learners you would need to modify the tasks to ensure they are fully engaged as you have mentioned and the discussion at the start with links to their own birthdays is effective in introducing this concept in a child friendly manner.

Teacher modelling and scaffolding would really support the learners when recording the weather through observations and data collection and as you have said there are many opportunities for skills development in this task.

I hope you enjoy the other modules in this course. Thanks for sharing.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Síofra,

Welcome to the course. It is great to hear your thoughts on how to use this activity with a 2nd class group. I like how you plan to engage the learners initially with the odd one out activity and make links to history too.

I also like how you are planning for an engineering task in allowing the learners to choose the materials for their sun dial initially and I like how you have planned for critical thinking in discussing why a sundial might be less reliable in Ireland.

Great ideas, thanks for sharing. I hope you enjoy the other modules across this course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Jonathan

Welcome to the course, thanks for sharing your lesson idea on exploring maps with your class.

I like how you will explore the school grounds as this is familiar for younger learners but also gives them the opportunity to focus on observing the wildlife, trees and flowers in the school grounds.

I like how you have included some questioning to encourage critical thinking and also promoting action as they make the school grounds more friendly for wildlife. Learners can also consider how to further support biodiversity within the school.

Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Gillian,

Welcome to the course. It is great to hear that you think the activities in this module would work well with your class. I agree that a level of prior knowledge and vocabulary is necessary before introducing the Paxi video. This will allow the learners to engage fully with the content of the video.

I like how you are planning to use the video and the Teal tool to explore the concepts and then to focus on how the learners can take action. I agree that some content can cause a level of anxiety among the learners so it is important to promote positive action such as litter picking and more recycling as you have mentioned.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I hope you enjoy the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Sinead,

Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Liston’s paper and also on the activities in this module.

The activities allow for lots of discussion among the learners as you have mentioned, this can allow for critical thinking also as they explore the difference between weather and climate. Similarly, in the weather detectives there is an opportunity for skills development for both investigative work and also collaborating with their peers as you have said.

I like your plan for collaboration between classes also, an opportunity for both younger learners and older learners to work together and take ownership of their learning together.

Great ideas, thanks for sharing. I hope you enjoy the other courses in this module.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Emer

Welcome to the course. It is great that you can pick and choose topics relevant to the class without the pressure of the text book for STEM. We can often be too reliant on these books and miss out on relevant learning opportunities from our own local area.

What a great opportunity to have chickens in the school, while it is very unfortunate that they were taken by a predator. It does create real-life problems for the learners to engage in and problem solve and it would also incorporate digital tools such as the cameras. Aside from the STEM learning, the chickens must provide for lots of hands on, meaningful learning about caring for the world around us. Amazing, thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.

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